Organisers of the upcoming June 12 Democracy Day protest, under the banner of the Take It Back Movement (TIB), have formally written to the Lagos State Police Command to seek protection for peaceful demonstrators.
In an open letter addressed to the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Moshood Jimoh, and signed by the TIB Coordinator in Lagos, Adekunle Taofeek, the group stated that the correspondence serves as both a formal and public notification of their intent to protest.
According to the letter, obtained on Tuesday, Adekunle stated, “On June 12, 2025, the people of Nigeria—young and old, working-class and unemployed, angry and awake—will take to the streets in peaceful protest against the unbearable insecurity and economic hardship that have strangled this nation.”
The organisers declared that June 12 is not a day for silence but a call to action, asserting, “Nigerians never begged for freedom; we fought for it, and we will continue to fight—peacefully but fearlessly—until this country works for all of us.”
They emphasised that the protest is within their constitutional rights, citing Sections 39 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantee freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. “No law gives the police the authority to crush or criminalise peaceful dissent,” the letter stated.
The group, therefore, demanded that the police abstain from any attempts to suppress, intimidate, or arrest peaceful demonstrators. “We expect your men to behave professionally and with restraint,” the letter added.
June 12 is recognised as Democracy Day in Nigeria in honour of the annulled June 12, 1993, presidential election, which was widely believed to have been won by Moshood Kashimawo Abiola before it was nullified by the then-military regime led by General Ibrahim Babangida.
This year’s Democracy Day also marks 26 years of uninterrupted democratic governance in Nigeria since the country transitioned from military to civilian rule in 1999.
ADEOLA KUNLE
