#EndSARS: Osun Youth Condemn Criminalisation Of Peaceful Protest, Insist On Review Of Judicial Panel

#EndSARS: Osun Youth Condemn Criminalisation Of Peaceful Protest, Insist On Review Of Judicial Panel

Some protesters in Osun State have called on the state government to stop the clamp down on protests in the state.

The state government had cracked down on protesters in Osun after an alleged attack on the state governor.

The EndSARS protest, which took place across the country, was met with violence, leading to the killing of at least two persons in Oshogbo, the state capital, by security operatives attached to Governor Gboyega Oyetola, while he was dispersing the demonstators.

However, the Osun State Government in a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Funke Egbemode, on Sunday, moved to suppress further demonstrations.

But the protesters through their spokesperson, Olawale Bakare (Mandate), in a statement said the youth will continue to push for an end to police brutality in the state.

The group also tasked the state government and law enforcement agents to protect protesters rather than forcefully dispersing and arresting them.

Mandate said, "As peaceful youth, we have been engaging in demonstrations since the emergence of #EndSARS protest nationwide. Unfortunately, we have wild and rude leadership.

"Yemi Lawal, Commissioner for Youth and Sport, had no intelligent response to answer the youth of Osun but called us a set of irresponsible youth. The unruly and unprofessional way of engagement of Yemi Lawal would not be overlooked and condoned.

"We tried to communicate our demands to them but we were met with disgraceful and embarrassing words from a supposed Commissioner of Youth and Sports. Also, this same Yemi Lawal masterminded the kangaroo Judicial Panel of Inquiry where he added his own boys, who were never seen at the barricade or even sympathised.

"Adding salts to injury, the Government of Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola has contracted the military and other forces in the state to gag us from expressing our grievances. It is not new to the people of Osun where the government will call on the military to dehumanise and violate the rights of citizens as seen in the Ilesa saga during the curfew in the viral video.

“We will remain peaceful and always remain as such but the government must understand that this state is better run based on law and not hooliganism or gangsterism as the right of the people to protest is constitutionally guaranteed."

The group also insisted on the reconstitution and review of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry to include arrest and prosecution of identified hoodlums and officers found guilty of any allegation.

"We hereby call for the immediate and unconditional review of this Judicial Panel of Inquiry. We request that no panelist must have controversial antecedents and track records of service must be acceptable to the protesters.

“We emphatically demand that the protesters should also be adequately and satisfactorily represented in the Judicial Panel of Inquiry as a way to encourage transparency. We also demand that every sitting of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry which must comprise of persons of integrity and moral excellence must be aired and televised live for all the people of Osun and Nigeria at large to follow,” Mandate added.

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SaharaReporters, New York



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Source: #EndSARS: Osun Youth Condemn Criminalisation Of Peaceful Protest, Insist On Review Of Judicial Panel