By Olawale Lamina
Undercover operatives from the Department of State Services, DSS, have arrested Adaramoye Michael Lenin, one of the arrow heads of the #EndBadGovernance protests in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, at his residence in Apo, Abuja.
Lenin was allegedly arrested in his house by DSS operatives at about 2 am on Monday, where his family was present.
His arrest was confirmed to the newsmen by the Director of Mobilisation, Take It Back Movement, Damilare Adenola.
He stated that arrested leader has been placed under surveillance by the secret police over for his role in the yet to be suspended hunger protest and demonstrations against the state.
“He was arrested in the presence of his family. We are demanding his immediate and unconditional release.”
The detained leader of the demonstrators had criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s national broadcast on Sunday at a briefing in Abuja.
Lenin had stated that the President’s address to Nigerians was an indication that, “he is out of touch with reality in the country.”
At the Sunday’s briefing, Lenin stated that: “We wish to express our sadness and deep disappointment at the latest broadcast by President Tinubu, which is his first address to the nation on the #EndBadGovernance protests, after over three weeks since Nigerians started mobilising to take to the streets and after scores of dead protesters and assaulted journalists from the first three days of the protests.
“Many had requested that the President should just address the nation when the protest was being mobilised and when it started to escalate, but most of us did not know that the President would only justify state violence on protesters and journalists while dismissing the demands of the protesters whenever he decides to speak.
“This, plus the failed attempt to co-opt the progressive and radical language of the protests, only shows how much President Tinubu is out of touch with the masses.
“We, therefore, call on Nigerians to come out in large numbers to continue these protests on Monday until our demands are met. The two-pronged approach of violence and propaganda has failed.
“The violence and repressions are just attempts to silence and control us, and the propaganda cannot sway or fool us.”
Following the tone of his address, the DSS operatives arrested him on Monday night.
,In reaction, another rights group, a human rights advocacy organisation of the ‘Take It Back (TIB) Movement, has called for the immediate release of one of the #EndBadGovernance protest leaders, Adaramoye Michael, popularly referred to as Michael Lenin, by the DSS.
Also recall that, for the first time in the life of the Tinubu-led administration, Professor Wole Soyinka also criticized the President’s speech for failure to acknowledge the violence dimension of the nationwide protests and the use of force by the security agents that resulted in the death of a number of victims of the protests in the country.
The DSS had yet to confirm the arrest of Michael Lenin, now in its custody, at at the time of filing this report.
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