The Defense Headqaurters, DHQ, says it would not allow the repeat of what happened in Kenya in Nigeria.
The magazine reported that mass protest by youths in the East African nation, calling on President William Ruto government to resign has crippled the country.
The protest has been on for weeks with no end in sight despite some concessions by the Ruto administration to the demands of the protesters, including the sack of the president’s cabinet two weeks ago.
Some angry Nigerians are calling for a similar protest in Nigeria to call government’s attention to the current hardship in the country, even though other Nigerians have also called for the protest to be shelved.
The protest tagged ‘Days of Rage’ , according to the organisers, is expected to take place for 10 days starting from August 1 to 10.
Reacting, the spokesman for the DHQ , Edward Buba, a Maj. Gen said it is ready to prevent a “shadow (of) what is happening in Kenya,” to happen in Nigeria.
Gen Buba said those organising the protest in Nigeria are planning to replicate the Kenya episode, which he claimed has thrown the country into violence.
“I will say that the contemporary context of this planned protest is to shadow what is happening in Kenya and I will add that what is happening in Kenya in terms of protest, one, it is violence, two, it remains unresolved as we speak,” Buba said.
Buba said further, “Based on the foregoing, the level of violence envisaged is best described as a state of anarchy.
“It is for this reason the armed forces will not watch and allow the nation spiral out of control to such low levels.
“Basically, the military has been exposed to wars and have witnessed situations of anarchy in countries ravaged by war, particularly during ECOMOG or during peacekeeping operations.
“It is for this reason that, troops will act dutifully to forestall such ugly occurrences from happening in our nation,’’
The military position on the impending protest came as the federal government is taking steps to avert it.
On Wednesday, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, George Akume met with ministers to chart a way forward on how to ensure that the protest does not take place.
Reports also say the 36 state governors are currently meeting in Abuja, the nation’s capital on how to mitigate the situation, while the ministers have been directed to go back to their various states to appeal to their people not to take part in the protest.
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