Jonathan’s Sponsored Protesters Attack Ezekwesili’s Group With Machetes In Abuja

#BringBackOurGirls: Jonathan’s Sponsored
Protesters Attack Ezekwesili’s Group With
Machetes In Abuja
Posted: May, 28 2014, 2:05PM
Former minister Oby
Hell was let loose today at the Unity Fountain in
Abuja as a government-sponsored
#ReleaseOurGirlsNow protesters used axes,
machetes and cudgels to disrupt the rally of a
group led by former Minister Oby Ezekwesili that
is demanding more serious action by the
Jonathan administration to rescue more than 200
schoolgirls abducted April 14 from their
dormitories in Chibok, Bornu State.
SaharaReporters had reported recently that the
government-funded group of protesters was
organized to undermine efforts by the Ezekwesili-
led group that feels the Jonathan administration
has done too little, too late to find and save the
abducted girls. The mandate of the government-
sponsored group is to change the conversation by
laying exclusive blame on the Islamist group,
Boko Haram, that carried out the abductions.
Several eyewitnesses told SaharaReporters that
the group organized by allies of Mr. Jonathan
wielded dangerous weapons to intimidate those
who were protesting government ineptitude
alongside Ms. Ezekwesili, a former minister in the
administration of President Olusegun Obasanjo. In
addition, the pro-government group destroyed
chairs and smashed journalists’ cameras.
The #BringBackOurGirls campaigners led by Ms.
Ezekwesili had gathered peacefully at the fountain
early this morning to press their case for more
focused action by the government. However, they
got the shock of their lives when an armed gang
from the rival group stormed the same venue
came to interrupt them. The gangsters marched
round the circle of the Ezekwesili group blowing
whistles and chanting abusive songs.
Then, as a cameraman from AFP news agency
recorded Ms. Ezekwesili’s speech to her group,
the members of the government-created group
attacked him, smashing his camera. They also
broke chairs the protesters had brought, seized
numerous mobile phones from their owners, and
beat up some members of the Ezekwesili group. A
source said anti-riot police who were at the
scene turned a blind eye as the hoodlums carried
out their attacks.
“The policemen were there and did nothing even
when our attackers started smoking India hemp
[marijuana] openly at the fountain right in front of
them,” one of the protesters told
SaharaReporters. He added that many of the
protesters sustained various injuries.
Ms. Ezekwesili told a reporter that her group had
sent a letter to the Inspector General of Police as
well as the Commissioner of Police for the Federal
Capital Territory to apprise them of their plan to
hold a series of peaceful rallies to draw attention
to the plight of the Chibok schoolgirls and their
families. She showed a copy of an
acknowledgement from the police, indicating that
the group had received approval for their protests
at the Unity Fountain.
The former minister expressed her displeasure
with the indifferent attitude of the Nigerian police
which allowed thugs from another group to attack
members of her group. She pleaded with
members of her group not to be deterred by the
attack, describing it as the handiwork of
detractors who were hell bent on scuttling their
efforts.
The Ezekwesili group has scheduled another event
for Thursday, May 29 to mark Democracy Day.
The venue will be ThisDay Dome, a few meters
away from the Unity Fountain.
SaharaReporters disclosed a few days ago that
the pro-Jonathan group had been recruited from
various villages and slums around Abuja and
given a mandate to pose as patriots who contend
that the government has risen to the challenge of
finding the missing girls. The Chief of Defense
Staff, Alex Badeh, and other top military officers,
held a high-profile meeting with the pro-
government group at the Eagle Square.