OPERATIVES of the Department of State Service (DSS) have arrested one of the leaders of the ongoing #EndBadGovernance protests in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr. Micheal Lenin.
Lenin was arrested around 2am on Monday, August 5, at his residence in the Apo area of the city.
Director of Mobilisation, Take It Back Movement, Mr. Damilare Adenola, disclosed that Lenin’s house was raided by operatives of the Service, who allegedly assaulted him during his arrest.
According to Adenola: “Lenin has been arrested by the DSS. He was picked up during a raid on his house around 2am. He was arrested and tortured in the presence of his family.
“We are demanding his immediate and unconditional release.”
Lenin, National Coordinator of Youth Rights Campaign, was one of the organisers that spoke at a press briefing on Sunday, August 4, expressing disappointment with the content of President Bola Tinubu’s broadcast earlier in the day, which he said demonstrated that the President was out of touch with reality in the country.
He said: “We wish to express our sadness and deep disappointment at the latest broadcast by President Tinubu, which is his first address to the nation on the #EndBadGovernance protests, after over three weeks since Nigerians started mobilising to take to the streets and after scores of dead protesters and assaulted journalists from the first three days of the protests.
“Many had requested that the President should just address the nation when the protest was being mobilised and when it started to escalate, but most of us did not know that the President would only justify state violence on protesters and journalists, while dismissing the demands of the protesters whenever he decides to speak.
“This, plus the failed attempt to co-opt the progressive and radical language of the protests, only shows how much President Tinubu is out of touch with the masses.”
Lenin vowed that the protest would continue massively on Monday, calling on the citizens to come out in large numbers.
He stated: “We, therefore, call on Nigerians to come out in large numbers to continue these protests on Monday until our demands are met. The two-pronged approach of violence and propaganda has failed.
“The violence and repressions are just attempts to silence and control us, and the propaganda cannot sway or fool us.”
