Elias Ozikpu, a member of the African Action Congress (AAC) and member of the Take it Back Movement, says if the #RevolutionNow march was aimed at taking over government, they wouldn’t have held it at the National Stadium in Lagos.
Speaking in Lagos, Ozikpu, who was arrested and detained by security agencies alongside eight others for participating in the protest, and regained freedom on Thursday, said that the objective of the march was misinterpreted.
“I think people misunderstood us and our objective, which is a call for change in the way we do things, a call for a change in governance for the benefit of the common man.
“The stoppage of the protests midway by security agencies shows that the present government does not want people to complain or protest, and that is not right. Revolution in the way we have used it in the protest is a call for a better country; unfortunately, people are giving the march all sorts of meanings,” he said.
Recounting the issues facing the countries, he mentioned insecurity and poverty, among others and Nigerians have the right to call on government to do better.
On his arrest, he said he and eight others were arrested at the protest ground at the National Stadium, Surulere on Aug. 5 and three were identified as journalists by security agencies and were released, but he and five others were subsequently arraigned in court for involvement in the protest.
“The six of us were arraigned the second day at Yaba Magistrate court and after the whole thing, only one of us was able to get bail based on self recognition as he is a lawyer. The rest of us were sent to prison because we could not perfect our bail condition of N100,000 with two sureties. We were only able to do that on Thursday, and that was when we were released,” he said.
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