Posted by By YINKA FABOWOLE on
Ibadan, Oyo State capital, was, weekend, swarming with policemen and security agents, ahead of a mass rally planned for today by civil rights groups, in protest against the removal of Chief Rashidi Ladoja from office as the state governor.
Ibadan, Oyo State capital, was, weekend, swarming with policemen and security agents, ahead of a mass rally planned for today by civil rights groups, in protest against the removal of Chief Rashidi Ladoja from office as the state governor.
Expected to take part in the mass action are 17 organisations, including civil society groups, labour, students and activists.
The protest demonstration, which will feature rallies and a march to the seat of government (Secretariat), Agodi, is being led by Moshood Erubami, president, Campaign for Democracy and pro-democracy hero who led the historic April 15 and May 21, 1997 anti-Abacha demonstrations in the ancient city.
Others converging on the state capital to join him are renowned playwright, Prof. Wole Soyinka; President, West African Bar Association (WABA), Mr Femi Falana, a coterie of lawyers and other democracy defenders.
The demonstration is coming as unconfirmed reports said the appointment of Chief Lamidi Adedibu's personal assistant, Hazeem Gbolarumi, as deputy governor would be approved by the state House of Assembly and the new Deputy Governor sworn-in, also today.
Meanwhile, the police have threatened to deal ruthlessly with the demonstrators. The state police spokesman, Femi Adedeji, reminded them of the regulations regarding public procession, pointing out that they would be flouting the law if they went ahead with their plans without obtaining official permit.
Amid speculations that some people planned to import thugs and arms into the city to cause mayhem, the police tightened security at all the entry points into Ibadan, including: Lagos-Ibadan Expressway; Ibadan-Ife Road; Ibadan-Iwo Road; Ibadan-Oyo-Ilorin Road and Ibadan-Abeokuta Road.
Armed riot policemen are conducting stop-and-search operation on many major routes and even back streets in the city. Notable among the policed areas are Ojo-U.I- Mokola Road, Bodija - Secretariat Road, Beere, Iwo Road, Dugbe, Molete, Sango, Eleyele and Apata and Gete/Agodi.
By Sunday, State Security Service (SSS) operatives were looking for arrow heads of the proposed demonstration. Consequently, organisers of the mass action have abandoned their offices and went underground.
The offices of the Campaign for the Defence of Human Rights CDHR and Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) on old Ife Road were deserted when Daily Sun visited on Friday and Sunday.
A security source hinted that policemen had been drafted from neighbouring state to complement the number on ground, so as to head off or contain the demonstration.
The heightened tension has got city residents, including the ambivalent state government workers panicking. Some residents, who spoke with our reporter, expressed fears over their security should the secretariat and the open streets be turned into battle fields. Consequently, they said, they may not report for work. Others who owned vehicles said even if they venture out, they would not be doing so with their vehicles.
There were conflicting signals from labour in the state as to its position on the mass action. The national leadership of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) had, last week, asked the state workers, who went on strike in the wake of Ladoja's removal, not to recognise the new government of Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala. They had, however, backed down after a meeting with the new governor.
Erubami, speaking from his hideout, last night said his team was going ahead with the rally. He dismissed police threat, saying, "that is not news to us in Nigeria, but we have rights. As citizens of this country, we have the constitutional rights to associate and let off our grievances. By the grace of God, the rally will hold."