As the government continues to engage with stakeholders on the economic, social and political challenges of the country, the National Orientation Agency (NOA), has urged the promoters of the proposed nationwide protests to pursue dialogue instead of its recourse to disorder.
It also revealed that the Agency’s nationwide structure has successfully identified the sponsors of the proposed protest and likely flashpoints saying the government will take measures to forestall any violent occurences in the identified locations.
Director General of the Agency, Mallam Lanre Issa Onilu who made it clear that the channels of communication to government and its various arms remain open to dialogue said it will continue to respect citizens’ right to protest and associate freely in line with democratic principles.
The DG, in a statement by the agency Deputy Director of Press, Mr. Paul Odenyi, said: “The identities of many of the brains behind the protest have been known, along with their collaborators who are safely residing abroad and the government is taking necessary actions to stop their subversive plans.
“The intentions of the elements behind the planned protest are not about governance or state of the economy but a decoy to destabilize the country, cause mayhem and carry out arson, killings, maiming of innocent citizens for narrow political reasons.
“NOA is intensifying efforts in civil intelligence gathering and sensitization of community leaders, parents and youths across the 774 local governments on the need for vigilance and collective preventive actions.
“The other objective of the protest is to project to the international community, a picture of an unstable country as part of the grand design to intimidate the government and seek patronage of the bigger sponsors of the planned protest.”