Although daily activities are normal in Nigeria, the spate of banditry, abduction and killings in the most populous country on the continent has created a general dissatisfaction amongst the citizens.
With just a little over three days left for the West African giants to go to the polls, tensions are rife over the expected turn of events due to the chaos in some parts of the country.
A new monetary policy by the government gives citizens the chance to make a maximum of a paltry 5,000 naira withdrawals, heightening the economic despondency in the country.
Journalist Jesusegun Alagbe has been telling Captain Smart on Onua TV, Tuesday, February 21, 2023, that even though things are not as bad as they were (EndSars days), the prevailing circumstances with its associated casualties is not far from what ensued during the #ENDSARS days in 2020.
“Only God knows what’s going to happen within the last few days heading to the elections. With what is happening in Nigeria right now, we are heading towards what happened during the ENDSARS protest in 2020. It hasn’t gotten there yet but we are heading towards there. The general hardship has increased. Things are going on normally and Nigeria is safe generally but there is general dissatisfaction,” Mr. Alagbe pointed out.
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Meanwhile, the US government and some other countries have warned their citizens to be wary as the election approaches.
They want to avoid their citizens falling prey to the chaos that has spurred in certain parts of the country due to the prevailing circumstances.
Incumbent Mahamadu Buhari is not contesting after serving his two terms of office as mandated by the constitution.
Meanwhile, Mr. Alagbe reports incumbent All Progressive Congress (APC) seem to have lost the grounds for the elections following the teeming economic hardship confronting especially, the youth.
The insecurity in Nigeria according to Jesusegun has reached its alarming levels with killings amid the monetary policy making life unbearable for people.
He adds people also have to queue to buy fuel just as they do to withdraw few notes of the naira.
He says the Labour Party’s Peter Obi seem to have won the hearts of many citizens following Atiku Abubakar’s indifference in the killing of a Christian youth in Northern Nigeria.
The government, he reported further, has done a little about the “many youth [who] have been killed, kidnapping, banditry” which have gone on over the years.
What was the #EndSars movement?
In October 2020, a video went viral on social media showing an officer with the SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) allegedly killing a man in the southern Delta state.
For years, the unit had been accused of abuse of power and of committing crimes it was meant to be stopping, including robberies, killings and kidnappings.
Despite promises to reform the police, actual changes were slow in coming. Protesters organised themselves on social media, under the banner #EndSars which was eventually disbanded.
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By Felix Anim-Appau|Onuaonline.com
