Security agencies in Oyo State on Tuesday embarked on a joint show of force in Ibadan metropolis, ahead of the planned nationwide protest.
The security agencies comprised the Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and the Nigerian Army.
Others were the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, State Security Services, Nigerian Correctional Service, Federal Road Safety Corps, Nigeria Immigration Service and Amotekun Corps.
The show of force, which began from the police command headquarters, Eleyele, took the security personnel to Mokola roundabout, Oyo State Government Secretariat, Agodi-Gate, Iwo Road, Bodija and Challenge, among others.
Briefing journalists on the reason for the exercise, the state Commissioner of Police, Ayodele Sonubi, said that it was to create awareness to members of the public on the readiness of security personnel toward the planned protest.
Mr Sonubi said that the exercise was also to ensure that the state remained peaceful, as it had always been, and to protect the lives and property of law-abiding citizens before, during and after the protest.
He said that the security agencies in the state were not averse to people ventilating their anger by way of peaceful protest, adding that they had the right to protest without infringing on the rights of others.
“It is not your right to coerce others to join the protest. Nobody, including the security agencies, have the right to stop peaceful protest. Our right is to protect peaceful protesters and their property. But, the moment it turns violent, we have the right to lead and bring orderliness,” he said.
The police commissioner stated that Nigerians had witnessed many protests, noting that while some were peaceful, others were bloody, especially the 2020 EndSARS protest.
According to him, the government was neither blind nor deaf, adding that it is aware of the challenges faced by Nigerians and taking steps to address them.
He said that security agencies, as Nigerians, were also faced with the same challenges being experienced by other citizens, calling on everyone to tread with caution, in the interest of peace and progress of the country.
Mr Sonubi said that as much as the citizens had the right to protest, the police and other security agencies in the state would not tolerate violent protest.
He said that the security agencies, being the agents of government being paid with taxpayers’ money to protect the citizens, would act appropriately to ensure orderliness, if the protest should assume a violent dimension.