A body under the EndSARS protest movement in Osun State, has disowned those that burgled shops and stole properties in the name of protest.
They have therefore announced their withdrawal from the protest and enjoined those with genuine claim of police brutality and other related matters to approach the newly inaugurated Judicial Panel of Enquiry by governor Adegboyega Oyetola.
At a press conference jointly addressed by Comrades Ige Oluwasegun Ebenezer, Ayo Ologun, Ismail Abdulazeez and Adebisi Emmanuel, leaders of the protesters said the withdrawal became necessary because hoodlums have hijacked the protest.
They expressed displeasure over the abrupt end of the protest occasioned by the disruption caused by hoodlums, urging the government to implement the demands, especially the 5-point demand endorsed by the Federal Government.
“We greatly appreciate the doggedness and resilience of the teeming youths in the State of Osun, for showcasing genuine concerns for nation-building and just society, by joining their comrades across the country to agitate for end to police brutality and brigandage.
“The patriotic commitment and stance of our youths against brutal force and unlawful activities of the disbanded Special Anti-robbery Squad(SARS) remain unforgettable and exemplary, it is indeed a watershed in the annals of our dear country.
“Unfortunately, in the course of our genuine struggle for the emancipation of the weak and downtrodden, and for better society of our desire, some unscrupulous elements with divisive tendencies sneaked into the barricade and disrupted our procession.
“The most disheartening and pathetic of this rude obstruction of our movement to the point of egalitarianism was the kleptomaniac tendencies of these individuals, who used our popular struggle as a cover to steal, maim, and vandalise our common patrimony.
“We were astonishingly taken aback, and utterly saddened with the criminal manner these elements went about looting both public and private properties and almost turned the state to the arena of anarchy and turmoil, before the swift intervention of the state government.
“Going forward therefore, as we implicitly comply with 24-hour curfew imposed on the state by the government, for the ultimate goal of returning sanity and peace into the state, we hereby use this medium to notify our teeming youths that every agitation and protest has been put on hold.
“We enjoin our comrades to avoid any form of public gathering in respect of #Endsars and to uphold the collective suspension of protest as earlier agreed to allow government in the State of Osun to carry out necessary steps towards meeting array of our demands, especially the 5-point demand as endorsed by the Federal Government.
“It should be noted that anybody caught on the street doing otherwise under the guise of #EndSARS protest would be treated as a defiant and such individual will consequently face the full wrath of the law,” they warned.
