He stresses that this is when the government is expected to show that they are willing to listen to the people’s problems by protecting the peaceful protesters.
Nigerian comedian and activist Mr Macaroni has criticized the government’s response to the ongoing #endbadgovernance protests, saying authorities are disrupting peaceful demonstrations.
On August 1, 2024, the outraged activist took to X and responded to SP Benjamin Hundeyin‘s post, where he stated that the protesters in Lagos State were peaceful. In Macaroni’s lengthy post, he called the police out and stated that they attacked peaceful protesters in place of sponsored thugs.
He wrote in part, “This is proof that the protests are always peaceful and with good intentions until state-sponsored thugs are sent to disrupt the protests. The police, in their complicity, will ignore the infiltrators and start to attack peaceful protesters. This is how it happens not only in Lagos but in other states in the country.”
He compared the current situation to the ENDSARS protests in 2020, pointing out that the government often tries to rewrite the history of these events.
“At the end of the day, the government will then attempt to rewrite history as if it didn’t happen before our very eyes. This is exactly how it happened with EndSars and the records will forever be there to point at the real enemies of Nigeria who unleashed terror and mayhem in our society,” he added.
Police fire tear gas at protesters in Kano. [Sahara Reporters]
Mr Macaroni also criticised the presence of anti-protesters who threatened and confronted those demonstrating peacefully. He asked, “Isn’t it crazy that the same people who protested peacefully are now trying to stop others from doing the same thing?”
He stressed, “If people want to protest and cry out to the government, let them. How can the government keep punishing people and then tell them they can’t complain? The government should protect peaceful protesters, but instead, it’s the same government that’s causing the problems.”
