Five members of the Nigeria Patriotic Front Movement (NPFM), the group championing the planned October 1 protest in Kano, have been arrested by the police in Kano State.
The arrested members included the group’s national chairman, Comrade Abdulmajid Yakubu Daudu, Barrister Yusha’u Sani Yankuzo, Barrister Amina Bello, Comrade Sani NaRogo, Comrade Anas, and Comrade Abdullahi.
Grassroots Parrot had reported the movement vowed to occupy the street of Kano on October 1, 2024, to demand good governance.
The leader of the group, Yakubu Dauda, said they were not planning to create any form of violence, but they are ready to march to the government house and submit their demands.
Dauda, while briefing newsmen on Sunday in Kano, said with the single pronouncement of subsidy removal in 2023, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had pushed millions of Nigerians into severe poverty.
“The problem began by the time the naira was devalued, the bank rate and electricity skyrocketed, the middle class was decimated, and starvation became visible in towns and countries alike.” He said.
The group leader said the movement was compelled by the overwhelming situation to organize the peaceful protest for national survival to give life to Nigerians.
However, a statement by the NPFM Secretariat, signed by Comrade Al Amin on Monday, confirmed the arrest of the activists.
Amin said they were arrested and detained after honoring an invitation by the state police commissioner, CP Salman Dogo Garba, for a meeting at 2 pm on Monday.
Following their arrest, the statement confirmed that the activists were taken from Kano Police Headquarters to the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA) in Abuja, and their mobile phones were seized.
The statement reads: “Comrade Abdulmajid Yakubu Daudu left his office this afternoon at around 2:30 pm to attend a meeting with the Kano state commissioner of police at the Bompai headquarters of the force.
Comrade Abdulmajid was with four other members of the NPFM when he left his office for the meeting with the commissioner.
As of 7:42 pm, comrade Abdulmajid and his colleagues have not returned. Their whereabouts are unknown. All efforts to reach them have proved abortive.
It will be recalled that on Sunday, 29 September 2024, comrade Abdulmajid and his colleagues addressed a press conference in Kano, declaring the commencement of a nationwide National Survival Day protest on October 1, 2024.
The central concerns regarding the protest are the cost of living crisis and the endemic bad governance in the country.
Among the demands raised by comrade Abdulmajid are: fuel pump price overpricing; food inflation; high cost of governance at the top; grand corruption; persistent insecurity; re-nationalization of the NNPC(L) and electricity distribution services (DISCOs), among others.
We urge comrades across the country to help us raise the alarm until comrade Abdulmajid and his colleagues safely return home.
No one in his right mind can take any unduly long disappearance of a comrade such as Abdulmajid and his NPFM colleagues lightly. The growing state of political repression in the country makes this call for the Kano state commissioner of police to produce comrade Abdulmajid and his colleagues more urgent.”
The police authorities have not reacted to the incident as of the time of filling out this report on Tuesday morning.