President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday expressed concern over the nature of the ongoing protests across the country organized by the #EndSARS protesters.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, disclosed this to State House reporters at the end of a meeting with President Buhari on the protest against police brutality held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Dare, who said the team constituted by the federal government had already gone to work, added that the President recognised that it is well within their rights to protest.
He said the President assured that the demands of the protesters were being met in a timely fashion, while some had already been met.
The minister, who said the visit afforded him the opportunity to highlight some of the demands, expectations and desire for reform by the youths, thanked the President for being responsive to the requests of the younger generation for an end to the already disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), deep seated reforms, a probe of the officers responsible for the extra-judicial killings, extortions, human rights violations and torture.
Dare, while speaking on his engagement with President Buhari, said: “First, Mr President said that as far as he is concerned, it is important to allow the younger generation to exercise the freedom to protest but he did say that such protest must be in a peaceful manner. Of course, he is worried about some of the exceptions to the peaceful nature of the protest. And for him, it is important that these protests are properly guided, he said part of the demands that were made was to ensure those protesting are protected and any police officer that has in one way or the other attacked any protester be brought to book.
“So, Mr President thinks it’s a fundamental human right, so long as the protest is peaceful and focused. He said he has been responsive to demands put forward by the protesters. He believes the youth to a very large extent are law abiding, they are young people with dreams and expectations of the government and the society and that they have a right to demand for certain things, which is why he has a very attentive ear to their demands.”
He added: “Mr President said the youths of this country have spoken and he has heard and he has since gone to work for the youth of country, not just as a president but also as a father of the younger generation.
“He said as a father to this generation of our youth, his desire is for them to be well protected and live in a country where they enjoy their freedom and do not suffer from any form of police brutality.
“The President promised that he will ensure that the reforms as promised are met, that the reforms are long lasting and that the reforms will deliver for our country a police force that we will be proud of.
“So, on the whole I got the assurances of Mr President that the youth of our country are a great resource and not a problem. He appreciates the fact that they have brought the SARS issue to the fore through their peaceful protests. He recognizes that they have called upon the government to do what is necessary and that as a president and a father, he will make sure that the demands put forward are met and that he will work to ensure that we get the reform we want, ensure that our youth are no longer profiled but celebrated and supported for their vast potentials, skills and for the fact that the future of our country lie in the hands of our youth.”
Dare, while speaking as the minister of youth, urged the youth to be security conscious in view of the infiltration of the protests by the miscreants.
He said: “In the face of infiltration by miscreants trying to hijack these protests and give the entire protest a bad image, it’s important that I make this appeal that a consideration is given by moving this protest from protest to action.
“Some of these demands will take time there are processes that must take place, some of the demands need administrative responses, some of them need legislation, some of them need executive orders where necessary, all of these will take time. We live in a constitutional democracy, this processes cannot be usurped or bypassed, it must take time. But I think that the youths of this country have been heard, the agenda is clear and the government has taken note, government has gone to work. And I think by monitoring team we have the youth hold all government at all levels to accountability, particularly on demands that have been made and other issues tangential to their aspirations as younger generation of this country.”
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