#EndSARS: Senator Aduda urges youths to be calm

Senator of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Philip Aduda, has urged youths to remain calm assuring them that their demands would be looked in to.

The #EndSARS protests calling for an end to police brutality have turned violent in the territory in the past few days claiming lives and destroying properties.

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Aduda, who spoke to journalists after a stakeholders’ emergency security meeting in Abuja,  said youths in the FCT had the  right to protest, but it has to be within the confines of the law so as not to disrupt the normal lives of other citizens.

He also expressed shock over a picture being circulated on social media, where he was being portrayed as supporting one of the youths who claimed to be the spokesperson for Abuja natives.

He said, “Protest is allowed by the law, not violence. I support the #EndSARS protests but youths must not make it look as if it is war.

“I am not part of violent protests, especially the recent one in some parts of Abuja, because I am a leader does not mean that I will support something that is outside the law. Let us adhere strictly to law,” he said.

He called on the youths across all divides to give peace a chance, saying without peace nothing will be achieved in FCT.

“We had a meeting with the Minister of the FCT and he appreciated the efforts of stakeholders. He is even considering setting up a committee that will address cases of grievances occasioned by the #EndSARS protests” he said.

He lamented that his name and reputation were dragged into an issue which he had no knowledge of, stressing that he supported the #EndSARS protest and would not be the same person using the umbrella of the original inhabitants to order them to leave the streets.

Meanwhile, the Think Nigeria First Initiative (TNFI) and Movement of North East Youth Organisation Forum MNEYOF has urged for calm over ongoing  #EndSARS protest in other parts of the country that turned bloody and caused destructions in some areas. The group, in their separate meetings over the matter in Abuja yesterday, said the genuine protesters have largely achieved their main goal, and therefore called on the youths generally to be calm, and resort to the roundtable discussion, in the remaining demands.

TNFI President, Abubakar A. Tsanni, who spoke on behalf of the group, also said that while everyone should regret the sad occurrences in states like Edo, Lagos, Abuja, and Port Harcourt that resulted in deaths the issue could escalate, if care is not taken.

“We must avoid this, because in the long run, it’s we Nigerians and our country that would bear the brunt”, Tsanni added.

Also in a similar vein, the National president of the MNEYOF, Alhaji Abdurrahman Buba Kwaccham, who described the situation as trial moment for the country, called on all leaders to urgently intervene in the situation, and make their youths withdraw.