Debo Adedayo ‘Mr Macaroni’, a Nigerian comic skit maker and actor, spoke on the continued attacks of Nigerians and the media by the Nigerian government for making dissenting opinions at the event.
Adedayo said the growing culture of attacking dissenting opinions stemmed from a place of arrogance by the ruling class to silence dissenting voices.
“Leadership is service, selflessness, and sacrifice through discipline, integrity, and accountability, especially to God and the people you have sworn to serve. Anything contrary is a fraud.,” He said.
Referring to #EndSARS Protest, Adedayo said many rights of Nigerians were violated by the government. In his words: “Right to freedom of expression was violated because every Nigerian has the freedom to express their views. The moment you start to express your rights, you are in trouble. If you now tell me that Lekki Tollgate is a place I cannot move to, you are restricting my fundamental human rights of movement.”
Adedayo narrated how he was humiliated by policemen on the 13th February 2021, during the #OccupyLekkitollgate protest.
“I was arrested, stripped, beaten, tortured and the policemen stuck fingers into my eyes. I was brutalised along with other Nigerians. No one has the right to treat me or any other Nigerian that way”, Adedayo stated.
He wondered why security agents hide under intelligence reports to disrupt peaceful assemblies or silence dissenting voices while ruling parties hold rallies and members of the political class utter unguarded statements without any consequence. He advised security agents to see the civic space as a tool to fight against an unjust system and bar good officers from thriving.
