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August 5, 2024
The Director of Mobilisation for the TIB, Damilare Adenola, who made this known to newsmen on Monday morning said the DSS raided Michael’s home and assaulted him during the arrest.
Human rights advocacy organisation, Take It Back (TIB) Movement, has demanded the immediate release of one of the #EndBadGovernance protest leaders, Adaramoye Michael, also known as Michael Lenin, by the Department of State Services (DSS).
The TIB said that Michael, who is the National Coordinator of Youth Rights Campaign (YRC) and National Mobilisation Officer of Education Rights Campaign (ERC), was arrested around 2am on Monday when operatives of the DSS raided his residence in the Apo area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
The Director of Mobilisation for the TIB, Damilare Adenola, who made this known to newsmen on Monday morning said the DSS raided Michael’s home and assaulted him during the arrest.
Adenola said, “Lenin was taken into custody during a raid on his home early this morning. He was arrested and tortured in front of his family.
“We are calling for his immediate and unconditional release.”
However, efforts to get comments from the DSS failed as its spokesperson, Dr Peter Afunanya, did not answer calls made to his mobile phone number.
A message was sent to him but till the time of filing this report, he had not replied to the message.
Meanwhile, Michael’s arrest may be connected to his reaction to President Bola Tinubu’s speech on Sunday where he criticised the President for not addressing the demands of protesters in his speech.
Michael, who was a key speaker at a press briefing in Abuja after President Tinubu’s nationwide broadcast expressed disappointment, stating that the President’s address revealed a disconnect with the realities faced by Nigerians.
During the press briefing, Michael said, “We are deeply saddened by President Tinubu’s broadcast, his first address regarding the #EndBadGovernance protests.
“After over three weeks of mobilization and numerous casualties among protesters and journalists, the President’s speech only justified state violence and ignored the protesters' demands.
“Many had hoped the President would address the nation as the protests intensified, but instead, he chose to justify the violence against us and dismiss our demands.
“His attempt to co-opt the protest’s progressive rhetoric shows how out of touch he is with the people.”
Michael further announced that the protests would continue vigorously on Monday, urging citizens to participate in large numbers.
He said, “We call on Nigerians to come out in force on Monday to continue the protests until our demands are met.
“The current tactics of violence and propaganda are failing. These attempts to silence and control us will not succeed, and the propaganda will not deceive us.”