Protect nationwide protesters from hoodlums, TUC tells IGP

The Trade Union Congress (TUC), on Thursday, asked the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to ensure that the planned nationwide protest over the current economic hardship in the country is not hijacked by hoodlums.

Daily Trust reports that some persons are mobilising for nationwide protests slated for August 1 to August 10, 2024.

Briefing newsmen in Abuja, President of TUC, Festus Osifo, said the Nigerian Police is mandated by the Police Act and the constitution to provide adequate security for protesters.

The labour leader clarified that the TUC would not mobilise members to join the protest, as the organisers have not reached out for partnership.

Osifo said: “When you are having a protest, you need to sit down, have conversation, have meetings, but as of today, nobody has reached out to us that they want to protest.

“Nobody has asked for our collaboration, so how do you expect us to participate in a protest when we don’t know who is organising it?

“We don’t even have any idea whatsoever what is going to happen and as an institution, we also know that we have various organs that we run some of those things with.

“The leadership never sat down one day on the phone to call for a strike or protest but instead we called organs’ meeting to do a review. The same way you saw it in the media is the way we have seen it.

“It’s something we don’t really know who is organising it, we don’t really know who is protesting but all we know is that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is very clear on the issue of protest and the Police Act also mandates the police that when there is a protest they should ensure there is law and order, they should ensure those that are protesting are also protected.

“That is why we are reminding them that provision in the Police Act and the provision in the Constitution should be respected. If they had contacted us maybe we would have called our organs meeting for us to review but as of today, there is clearly nothing to discuss, there is clearly nothing to review.”