Socialist Workers League (SWL) stands with all Nigerians who took to the streets to hold the Nigerian government accountable for ignoring the needs and demands of the Nigerian masses. We demand the unconditional release of everybody arrested during the protests, including Kunle ‘Wizeman’ Ajayi, the National Chairperson of SWL and the AAC gubernatorial candidate for Ondo state, and six other members of the Take It Back (TIB) movement, Ondo State chapter, which include Tobi Pope and Patrick Owolabi.
Kunle ‘Wizeman’ is a longstanding political activist who has always supported popular struggles of working people and youth in the state and beyond. He and the TIB played a pivotal role in the rise of the #EndBadGovernance movement. They resisted earlier suppression of the demonstrations in Ondo state, by thugs and the police, during the first few days of the #DaysOfRage protests.
On 10 August Kunle and the six other Take It Backers were arrested in Akure, the state capital, for no justifiable reason during the peaceful protest they organised once again. They were unarmed protesters exercising their constitutional right.
We note that the police have concocted a false narrative regarding the circumstances surrounding Kunle’s arrest. SWL rejects the suggestion that the Nigerian masses need police permission to assemble peacefully. Other members of SWL have also received death threats and threats of violence just for exercising their rights to protest. It is the government that has no right to attack the protesters or to provoke violence.However, we understand that these provocations and arrests are just a ploy to divert attention from the real issue, which is the failure of the state to address the hunger and sufferings of the Nigerian masses. The state must know that its continued repression of the protesters can only strengthen the resolve of the Nigerian people to fight on.
These illegal arrests like the arrest of other Nigerians and SWL members fighting for a Nigeria for the working people will not deter the movement. We demand the immediate release of all arrested protesters including Kunle ‘Wizeman’ Ajayi and the 6 others connected to the Take It Back (TIB) movement who were abducted with him, including Patrick Owolabi and Tobi Pope.
Amara NWOSU (National Secretary)
