Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, human rights lawyer, has denied saying he regretted leading the #EndBadGovernance protest.
On Saturday, a flyer showing Adegboruwa’s image with a banner captioned: ‘I regret leading this protest”, was shared on social media.
The other captions in the flyer read: “Stop burning down property. Stop the killing. This was not what I signed up for. Protest leader, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa”.
The flyer also has the logo of Channels Television and was shared on Twitter.
Links have been archived here, here, here, and here.
Reacting to the post, Adegboruwa said he did not make the comments credited to him.
The human rights lawyer said he did not start the protest and could not assume the role of the protest leader.
“Fake News!!! I never said this anywhere at all. And it is not in any of the social media platforms or Channels TV,” Adegboruwa wrote on X.
“Obviously there are elements working to cause disaffection. I could not be a protest leader because I did not start the protests. I only made an appeal to the protesters to call it off.”
Fake News!!!
I never said this anywhere at all. And it is not in any of the social media platforms or Channels TV.
Obviously there are elements working to cause disaffection.
I could not be a protest leader because I did not start the protests. I only made an appeal to the… pic.twitter.com/Ue6IOwnq5W
— Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN (@adegboruwalaw) August 3, 2024
BACKGROUND
Adegboruwa represented the Take-It-Back Movement, the leading organiser of the protest, to engage with the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
The lawyer had written a letter to Kayode Egbetokun, inspector-general of police (IGP), to seek police protection for the protesters.
He was part of the lawyers who had a meeting with the IGP on the conduct of the protest.
In a statement on Friday, Adegboruwa appealed to the youths to suspend the ongoing #EndbadGovernance nationwide protest.
The lawyer said the purpose of the protest was defeated when some “sponsored agents” hijacked the demonstration.
He asked the youths to consider dialogue with the government to prevent further losses.
Adegboruwa’s statement followed the violence that trailed the first day of the 10-day #EndBadGovernance protest, especially in northern Nigeria.
Private and public properties were looted and destroyed. Several protesters were reportedly killed and injured by security operatives in northern Nigeria.
However, the protest has been largely peaceful in Lagos, Osun, Rivers, Ogun, and Oyo states.
Meanwhile, the protest organisers have said the demonstration may go beyond 10 days if their demands are not met.
