TheCable

Tonye Cole, the co-Founder of Sahara group and the #It Starts With Me Coalition, says the organisation will monitor the execution of the five demands of the #EndSARS protest.

In a statement on Friday, Cole said it is time for both the government and the #EndSARS protesters to appoint calm mediators to chart a way forward and prevent further loss of lives.

Cole said the coalition will ensure that the change #EndSARS protesters sought is achieved.

“Over the last few weeks, we have watched what started as a legitimate, heartfelt, peaceful and patriotic protest by our youths in the #EndSARS movement get hijacked and degenerate into a terrible, shameful and criminal enterprise. This is totally unacceptable,” the statement read.

“At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, a number of very concerned citizens sought to tackle very pressing issues facing Nigeria and called ourselves “It Starts With Me” to collectively emphasize that we are all equally, personally, responsible for the change we want to see. We chose a slogan “It Starts With Me, It Starts With You.”

“In the wake of the Lekki Toll Plaza Gate shooting and the deep seated anger,fear and trauma that followed, it is clear to all lovers of Nigeria and anyone seeking for peace and unity that there is an urgent need for extremely calm headed mediators on all sides, capable of rebuilding trust and restoring peace,to step up and bring the violence to a halt.

” There is a lot of work ahead of us as a nation and the 5 for 5 agenda that the #EndSARS movement brought up which the government had begun to address is a good place to continue from.

“It Starts With Me steps up as one of the many parties that will actively monitor the government as it addresses and delivers on its promises under the 5 for 5 agenda.

“We will do this through advocacy, journalism and lending our collective influence, praying we can add something, irrespective of how small, to the patriotic call by the #EndSARS movement for a better Nigeria for all.”

Project #It Starts With Me initiative was launched in March 4, 2017, to change the narrative about Nigerian youth.

The #EndSARS movement campaigned against police brutality.

Things, however, took a new dimension when suspected hoodlums hijacked the campaign, causing violence across some states.

Videos shared on social media also showed men dressed in military uniform shooting #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki toll plaza, one of the convergence points of the protest.

This caused hoodlums to go on rampage, destroying government buildings and infrastructure.