From Christiana Gokyo, Jos
Following the appeal by several good people to leave and not participate in today’s protest, Plateau State citizens on Thursday joined other parts of Nigeria to protest against hunger and suffering.
Our correspondent reports that people were gathered at the state Secretariat round and the main protest was at Old Airport round which was peaceful with an orderly procession of protesters marching from the Old Airport to the National Library junction.
The convener of the initiative for the Better and Brighter Nigeria, Prophet Isa ElBuba Isa El Buba who led the procession and addressed the protesters, noted that the Nigerians are suffering Nigerians and there is a need for the president to reverse his anti-people policies.
He said, “Federal Government should revises the removal of fuel subsidy, also the reversal high electricity tariffs, and reduction of the high cost of living are some of the demands of the protesters.”
The protesters were carrying posters with the inscription “There is hunger in the land”, “Bring back fuel subsidy”, and “Reverse electricity tariff” “Enough is Enough”, carrying Nigeria flags to make their voices heard.
Our correspondent reports that the Joint patrols by security operatives are visible across major areas in Jos, with armoured vans with personnel carriers and Hilux vans carrying large numbers of security personnel.
The city experiencing an unusual level of orderliness, with people going about their normal duties without any signs of panic or disruption, while the new Tin City Bus called the “Metro Bus” used to close by 6.30 pm and now closes by 2 pm on Wednesdays.
The Security Agencies in the state promise to ensure that the lives and properties of citizens are protected, heavy security is seeing presence which a clear and does not give chances to those who don’t mean well to the state not to escalate into violence or chaos.
Also, the security operatives were there to guide the protesters and ensure that the protest remained peaceful.
Our correspondent reported that other protesters also gathered at the British American roundabout in Jos, where most shops were closed in solidarity with the protest.
Also, a Civil Society member, Steven Aloko was speaking to some Newsmen and said, the protest aimed to call the attention of the government at all levels to end bad governance at all levels and to also tell the government that Nigerians are hungry.
According to him, Nigerians are hungry and there is a need to end the hunger now, the earlier the better.
We want the government to be more positive and if you are not positive and you are negative, you are going to have the negative effects later. he stated.
He calls on the protesters to remain peaceful until the government listens to their needs.