TheCable

A group known as the Yoruba Leadership and Peace Initiative (TYLPI) has asked the federal government to stop clamping down on promoters of the #EndSARS protests.

The call is coming days after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) secured a court order to freeze the bank accounts of some #EndSARS promoters.

The apex bank also accused them of terrorism.

In October, many Nigerians took to the streets for 12 days to call on the government to reform the police.

In a communique after its expanded management committee meeting in Ibadan, Oyo state, Olusegun Ahmadu and Femi Adefemiwa, TYLPI’s president and secretary, said unfreezing the bank accounts of the #EndSARS promoters would be an indicator that the government is ready and willing to dialogue with the youth.

The group expressed dismay that the peaceful demonstrations were hijacked by hoodlums to unleash mayhem on citizens.

While calling on the government to address the issues raised during the protests, the group condemned “the worsening security situation in the country, particularly the unrelenting activities of Boko Haram terrorists in the north-east, banditry in the north-west, the heinous activities of murderous gangs and kidnap-for-ransom groups across the country”.

“Apart from the threat to life and property, such activities pose a great disincentive to investment and development,” it said.

The group noted that since 2015, “appointments into strategic national agencies had been skewed in favour of persons from a particular section of the country in violation of the provisions of the constitution.”

TLYPI cited the 2014 national conference, noting that it made wide-ranging recommendations that could address the nation’s problems.

Aside from amending the electoral act, the group also called on legislative and executive arms of government to implement the 2018 report by the All Progressives Congress (APC) panel chaired by Nasir el-Rufai, Kaduna governor, on restructuring.