Armed policemen and soldiers on Saturday mounted roadblocks within and outside Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) subjecting residents and passersby to untold harassment and humiliation.
Nigerians had vowed to stage a one-million man protest Saturday to mark the end of #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protests scheduled between August 1st-10th.
The protests have been sustained despite the clampdown and killings of harmless protesters by the security agents in many part of the country under the watch of President Bola Tinubu.
Checks by SaharaReporters revealed that armed security operatives from the Nigerian Police, the Nigerian Army, Department of State Service (DSS), the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and the Nigerian Security Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have taken over the perimeter of the ‘Three Arms Zone’ which harboured the Presidential Villa, the National Assembly and the Supreme Court.
The roads from the Police Force Headquarters, Transcorp Hilton junction, Nitel Junction and Ministry of Finance were also barricaded with Armoured Personnel Tanks restricting both human and vehicular movements in the area.
The situation that has led to heavy traffic gridlock as motorists were asked to use an alternative route while commuters were subjected to unnecessary interrogation by the security agents.
Also residents coming to the city centre from satellite towns were not spared in the encounter with the barricade of Mpape, Kubwa, Kuje, Mararaba roads by gun-totting security operatives.
A resident who spoke to SaharaReporters described the development as frustrating, worrisome and undemocratic, stating that he was delayed at the check point beyond necessary.
“I was on my way to town today from Mpape but when I get the express by (the Mpape Junction) and all the passengers were asked to come down from the vehicle and raise our hands.
“They said, Where are we going? Why are we going to the city center? What is our mission? They delayed us before we were asked to go.”
The Tinubu-led government had on Friday night beefed up the security in Federal Capital Territory (FCT) following the insistence by the protesters not to give up on the struggle in demanding for good governance.
Meanwhile, the resilient protesters wielding placards had earlier converged on the Apo Junction in the nation’s capital and staged a one-million man protest.
The protesters lamented the hardship facing Nigerians brought by the anti-people’s policy of the President Bola Tinubu-led government.
They were demanding the reversal of fuel subsidy removal and an to hunger and hardship.
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