Actor, Williams Uchemba, has questioned celebrities and youths over their persistent demonstrations after the government acknowledged the demands of the protesters and disbanded the dreaded Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
The protest in Lekki, Lagos State, which was notable for having many celebrities in attendance, took a bloody turn on Tuesday evening,
with soldiers shooting no fewer than 15 protesters dead and injuring many others.
The state government had announced a 24-hour curfew earlier that day, which was to take effect at 4 pm but was later moved to 9 pm.
Uchemba told Sunday Scoop that while the protest had derailed, many stars were pressured into supporting
the anti-police brutality movement by only posting content on social media that was relevant to the protest.
He said, “It is about control. That is why you have brakes in your car. It is to know when to stop or slow down, and when to speed up. At a point, the protests got out of control. They started doing parties at the tollgate. We were all asking for the same thing – basic amenities.
“I know, constitutionally, you cannot use curfews to stop a protest. But maybe, we could have tried to work with the government just for that day. There was peer pressure on most of my colleagues. I know some of them that were pressurised to go out on the streets, even when the government had given us airtime. The pressure was more from the fans. ”
The actor also noted that for the first time, government responded promptly to the public’s demands.
He added that due to the attention it got, Nigerians were updated about every step that was taken.
He said, “We had it at some point and I was telling people that the climax of the protest would have been the candlelight vigil. The next day should have been about strategy. It should have been about ‘what is the next thing? Now, we have those people where we want them.’
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“Because we already had that, we should have just not overshot. We should have waited for them to completely implement everything we were asking for regarding police brutality. They met us halfway on the #5for5 demands.”
Olalekan Ajimoti – Blogger, Content Writer, and Digital Marketer helping brands and retailers build 8-figure e-commerce since 2016.
As a corporate trainer, brand communications expert, and brand consultant, I help people start, stay and grow in business leveraging digital skills and traditional expertise.
