By Dada Ahmed in Lokoja
As #endSARS protests in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria rage, Pan-African Union,a platform for youth political participation, has called on youths, especially those expressing anger on the streets; to accept dialogue with the government.
Oladele Nihi, the Commissioner for the organization, made the call in a statement, a copy of which made available to The Reporters, an online platform in Lokoja on Thursday.
Our correspondent monitoring the development reports that the youths are protesting the activities of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad,a unit created by the Nigerian Police Force to deal with robbery.
The protest which started on a peaceful note, later assumed a dangerous dimension when hoodlums and other criminal elements infiltrated the movement, leading to destruction of property and some deaths, especially in Lagos and Benin.
Nihi said:” I want to sincerely appreciate and commend the Nigerian Youths, both those on the streets protesting and the online supporters of the on going #EndSARS protest calling for total reform of the Nigerian Police Force.
“For sustaining the protest this far, we have demonstrated that Nigerian Youths are not lazy and most importantly, we are now prepared to build the Nigeria of our dream.
“The unity of purpose that exists among us since the beginning of the protest has sustained the protest thus far, but I must say the job is not over yet, therefore, the time to be on the dialogue table with government is now.
” I wish to state, categorically, that a lot has been achieved by this protest. We have spoken in unison and the government has heard us clearly. The government has also demonstrated its willingness to sit with us so as to listen to our demands for implementation.
“I wish to call on Nigerian Youths to accept this offer, especially now that thugs and hoodlums are already hijacking the peaceful protest.
” The willingness of the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who has offered himself to serve as a link between the Nigerian Youths and the government offers us the opportunity to sit with government on the dialogue table.
” I am appealing to all genuine protesters to accept this offer of the youngest Governor in Nigeria.
” Let’s aggregate our demands and appoint among ourselves, #EndSARS protester frontliners who have shown much commitment to the struggle to represent all of us and present our demands to government while we suspend the protest and give government timeline to implement these demands.”
