Abuja, 14 June, 2021 / 7:38 pm (ACI Africa).
The Archbishop of Nigeria’s Abuja Archdiocese has cautioned the Federal Government against “suppressing” the voices of the youth protesting against bad governance and insecurity in the West African country.
In his homily Sunday, June 13, Archbishop Ignatius Kaigama termed the demands of the youth who took part in the Saturday, June 12 demonstrations as “reasonable” and called for restraint and creativity in handling protestors.
Young people in Nigeria marked the country’s annual Democracy Day, June 12 through street protests, saying democracy in the West African nation is under threat. The demonstrators cited multiple cases of insecurity, bad governance, and the recent Twitter ban, among other issues that seem to threaten democracy.
On June 5, Nigerian authorities suspended Twitter after the service provider deleted a tweet by President Muhammadu Buhari arguing that the Nigerian President had violated the Twitter’s terms of service.
In reaction to the June 12 protests in Nigerian streets, security agents fired tear gas and detained a section of the youth who were taking part in the demonstrations.