DETERMINED to
achieve their objective, pro-democracy activists under the aegis of Citizen’s
Forum (CF) whose rally to protest alleged bad governance was aborted by the
police last Saturday, will re-group today in Lagos.
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Today’s meeting scheduled for 11.00am. at
Eko Hotel, Victoria Island would be chaired by Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole
Soyinka, and is aimed at primarily adopting a common ground on the next step to
take by the activists against the backdrop of the earlier ill-fated rally.
Although details of today’s meeting are
unknown legal luminary and one of the conveners of last weekend’s botched rally,
Chief Gani Fawehinmi (SAN) told Daily Champion that the activists will
seek to acquaint the nation on the new path intend to take.
"We want to brief newsmen on the events of
last weekend and tell everybody our new resolve", he said.
Chief Fawehinmi, who spoke in a telephone
interview, however, refused to go into details of the different areas that the
meeting will cover.
The police had last Saturday halted a mass
rally organised by the coalition of pro-democracy activists led by Prof. Soyinka
under the aegis of CF at Campos Square, Igbosere, Lagos Island.
Armed anti-riot police squad had not only
cordoned off the area, but reportedly tear-gassed both at the organisers and the
teeming crowd in the place.
Leaders of the organisers including Prof.
Soyinka and Mr. Femi Aborishade, National Secretary of the National Conscience
Party (NCP) and others were later quizzed and released by the police.
Police authorities have since denied ever
arresting them. Only two weeks ago, precisely on May 3, opposition political
parties led by Second Republic governor of old Kaduna State, Alhaji Balarabe
Musa staged a mass rally in Lagos and Abuja, principally to protest what they
called the massive rigging of last year’s general elections and the continued
mis-governance by the incumbent administration.
Prominent Nigerians including presidential
flagbearers of All Nigeria Peoples’ Party (ANPP) and All Progressive Grand
Alliance (APGA), Major General Muhammed Buhari (rtd) and Dim Chukwuemeka
Odumegwu-Ojukwu respectively were tear-gassed by the police in the process.
Soyinka, at last Saturday’s rally titled:
"Recovering our Stolen Sovereignty", had urged all Nigerians to join forces to
prevent a looming civilian dictatorship as well as close the door to the
military from taking over power in the country again.
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