Members of the Coalition for Revolution on Wednesday held a rally in Lagos to demand the release of members of the movement despite a crackdown on the movement by the Nigerian police.
In the early hours of the day, at least 25 armed police officers were at the national secretariat of the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, the publicised convergence point for the protest that was slated for 11 a.m.
Later in the afternoon, members of the movement gathered at Under Bridge in Ikeja, Lagos where they commenced their protest demanding the release of everyone arrested across the country as a result of the August 5 protest.
Addressing members of the public at the venue, Lanre Adeleke, a member of the movement, said they were out to challenge the status quo and to demand the release of their members.
“We are here because of our comrades, Comrade Soetan Adéọlá, Comrade Sowore, Comrade Agba Jalingo and Comrade Olawale Adebayo, aka Mandate. We cannot allow this situation to continue.
“We will not sit down and watch a democratic regime to be terrorising people and turn the system into a tyrannical one and that is why we are here today to say Nigerians will refuse this. We refused under the military, not because we wanted to, but because we wanted freedom.
“We are saying we will not keep quiet and watch our economy being controlled by just one per cent and put everybody in squalor while they control over 90 per cent of the resources of the country.
“We are saying we will not keep quiet while Boko Haram continues to kill people in the Northeast. We are saying we will not keep quiet while Fulani herdsmen continue to kidnap and kill innocent citizens. We are saying we will not keep quiet while education is turned into a trade and one cannot even conceptualise any meaningful knowledge for our youth. We are saying we will not keep quiet while the economy is run into chaos.”
