A northern youths group under the aegis of Arewa Youth Federation (AYF) has distanced itself from the call for revolution protest even as it warned youths from the zone not to allow themselves to be used.
While insisting that the call was against a democratically elected government, the group said “activism is not madness” and must be done within acceptable standards.
Briefing journalists in Abuja, Monday,AYF’s President, Adamu Kabir Matazu, said that they will resist any group or person who will distabilise the country.
“That the Arewa Youth Federation as an organization formed on the core principles of democracy and our belief in the Nigerian democratic experiment remain unshakable as such we totally and completely dissociate our organization and our teeming members from the so-called revolution now protest and we condemned in the most strongest terms the attempt by the organisers of the protest to geopardize the fragile peace and stability we are currently enjoying as a nation.
“We commend the Department of State Services (DSS) for their prompt arrest and detention of Omoyele Sowore and we call on the DSS to investigate his connection with Nnamdi Kanu of IPOB and their known collaborators in Nigeria, the likes of Senator Shehu Sani and Yinka Odumakin should immediately be arrested for questioning because we suspect they were hired to destabilize our country by some foreign interests or some faceless politicians who lost out in the last general election.
“We also want to warn those misguided youths that are in league with Sowore to desist from this madness and shouldn’t allow themselves to be used or hoodwinked by people who no longer have stake in Nigeria. they need to understand that activism is not madness and we are ready to counter-march them fire for fire and we can go to any length to defend our emerging democracy against any individual, groups or foreign interests who want to serve as agent of instability in our nation.
“The relative peace and stability we are enjoying in our country today is as a result of the proactive measures being undertaken by our security services against forces of darkness who want to tear the country apart as such we would not allow our country to be turn into another Libya, Syria or Sudan in the name of revolution.”
In the same vein, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to as a matter of urgency come up with more social intervention programmes as a way to curb the current restiveness in the country.
The body further slammed the proponents of the ‘RevolutionNow’ movement, saying that their call was akin to a coup detat against a democratic government.
Addressing s a press conference in Abuja, Zonal Coordinator, NANS Zone A, Comrade Umar Farouk Lawal while describing this as unacceptable, however praised the Department of State Services (DSS) for their prompt response even as they urged other security agencies to emulate the agency.
“For us, there will be no compromise when it comes to putting the nation first over and above any other consideration, it is Nigeria first and Nigeria always.
“It is without doubt that our nation is going through series of challenges ranges from insurgency, banditry to armed robbery and kidnapping resulting from many years of misgovernance but calling for revolution is akin to coup d’etat against a legitimate government of Nigeria. It is call for chaos and civil unrest to topple the duly democratically elected Muhammadu Buhari led administration.
“We recognise the inalienable rights of citizens to protest against perceives government inability to cater for the security and wellbeing of its people but that right can’t be absolute in calling for violent overthrow of government. Change of government should be via the constitutionally guranteed means such as through the ballots or impeachment proceedings of the national assembly.
“We salute the professional conduct thus far of the Department of State Security (DSS) in handling this threat to national security and we urge them to continue in this direction, and equally call on all other security agencies to emulate the professionalism of the Department of State Service in neutralizing all threats to national unity.
“As a matter of urgency, the President Muhammadu Buhari led administration must comes up with other social intervention programmes to complement the existing ones that will empower millions of citizens and lift them out of poverty.”