Protesters in Osun state have finally suspended the #EndSARS demonstration.
Protesters
Following attacks on innocent people and destruction of properties, the #EndSARS protest in Osun has been called off.
The protesting youths under the aegis of EndSARS protest Movement made the announcement while addressing journalists at the Corresponts’ Chapel, Osogbo, on Monday evening.
Flanked by other EndSARS Protesters, One of the EndSARS activist, Ayo Oloogun while addressing the journalists said the suspension of the protest was necessary as criminal elements have capitalised on the protests by maiming innocent citizens and destroying properties.
Oloogun who appreciated consciousness of youths during the course of agitating the alleged brutalities, extortion and extra-judicial killings by operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Response Squad SARS and its disbandment said they have suspended all the protest.
He said: “In the Words of the 35th American President, J.F Kennedy, “those who refused to participate in the politics of their environment end up being governed by their inferiors”.
“It is against the backdrop of the above thought that we greatly appreciate the doggedness and resilience of the teeming youths in the State of Osun, for showcasing genuine concerns for nation-building and just society, by joining their comrades across the country to agitate for end to police brutality and brigandage.
“The patriotic commitment and stance of our youths against brutal force and unlawful activities of the disbanded Special Anti-robbery Squad(SARS) remain unforgettable and exemplary, it is indeed a watershed in the annals of our dear country.
“Unfortunately, in the course of our genuine struggle for the emancipation of the weak and downtrodden, and for better society of our desire, some unscrupulous elements with divisive tendencies sneaked into the barricade and disrupted our procession.
“The most disheartening and pathetic of this rude obstruction of our movement to the point of egalitarianism was the kleptomaniac tendencies of these individuals, who used our popular struggle as a cover to steal, maim, and vandalise our common patrimony.
“We were astonishingly taken aback, and utterly saddened with the criminal manner these elements went about looting both public and private properties and almost turned the state to the arena of anarchy and turmoil, before the swift intervention of the state government.
“Going forward therefore, as we implicitly comply with 24-hour curfew imposed on the state by the government, for the ultimate goal of returning sanity and peace into the state, we hereby use this medium to notify our teeming youths that every agitation and protest has been put on hold.
“We enjoin our comrades to vacate the barricade and suspend every struggle to allow government in the State of Osun to carry out necessary steps towards meeting array of our demands, especially the 5-point demand as endorsed by the Federal Government.
“It should be noted that anybody caught on the street doing otherwise under the guise of #EndSARS protest would be treated as a defiant and such individual will consequently face the full wrath of the law.
“We further enjoin anyone with genuine claim of police brutality and other related matters to approach the newly inaugurated Judicial Panel of Enquiry for redress."