N9 billion was raised to cause chaos in the country during the #EndBadGovernance protests, according to Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi.
Adejobi disclosed this on Wednesday at the Civil Space Guard conference in Abuja, organized by the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism (WSCIJ).in collaboration with the Kingdom of Netherlands.
The End Bad Governance protests, widely known by the hashtags #EndBadGovernance or #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria, were a series of decentralized mass protests in Nigeria that mainly occurred from 1 August to 10 August 2024, triggered by the rising cost of living in the country.
In the south, the protest was largely peaceful but was marred by violence and destruction of public and private facilities in northern Nigeria.
Some protesters were seen waving Russian flags in the north, while calling on Russian President Vladimir Putin to “inervene”.
Speaking during the conference, Adejobi said before the protest, the police announced that the demonstration will be hijacked by foreign mercenaries to wreak havoc, but many Nigerians did not believe.
He said: “We always get information. I made a statement on behalf of the IGP that foreign machineries would come. But because of trust deficit, people always think we lie when we say certain things.
“People were trying to protest and express their feelings to the government. Some people were trying to capitalise on that to get money. They actually got money — we are talking about N9 billion.
“I’m sure you are not aware that somebody got money. Because of that protest alone, people realised N9 billion and they actually disbursed the money to cause chaos in Nigeria.”
Join Daily Trust WhatsApp Community For Quick Access To News and Happenings Around You.