Socialist Party member Deji Olayinka appeared on Nigerian TV channel News Central, interviewed about state repression and attacks on democratic rights following the #EndBadGovernance protests. Protesters have been charged with treason for taking part in the demonstrations, including Michael Lenin, a member of the Socialist Party’s sister organisation in Nigeria – Democratic Socialist Movement, and the president of the trade union federation the Nigerian Labour Congress Joe Ajearo was arrested en route the the TUC congress in Brighton. Joe has since been released after industrial action was threatened.
Protests outside Nigerian embassy
Protests outside embassies across the world demanding the release of political prisoners and dropping the charges have been organised by members of the Committee for a Workers’ International, the international organisation the Socialist Party is a member of.
The protest in London, at which Deji spoke, was covered by the media in Nigeria:
We say:
- Drop ‘treason’ and ‘terrorism’ charges against protest organisers
- Defend the right to protest, and free the hundreds detained for protesting
- Fight to defend Nigerians from economic and social collapse
