A former British diplomat, David Roberts, warned the federal government on Thursday against further planned protests over economic hardship, scheduled for October, saying foreign interests could be behind the organizers.
The Coalition of Concerned Nigerian Citizens, on August 28, 2024 in Osogbo, threatened to stage protests bigger than those in August if the federal government fails to reduce the high cost of living by October 1, 2024.
However, Roberts, who was director of the British Council in Nigeria, warned that foreign interests could use Nigerians' genuine concerns to destabilise the country.
His remarks came against the backdrop of last week’s revelation by US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken that African Stream, a media outlet associated with David Hundeyin, one of the supporters of the August #endbadgovernce protests, is a covert Russian intelligence psychological operation aimed at destabilising Nigeria.
African Stream was later banned from Facebook due to its alleged covert ties to Russia.
“In light of the widespread use of Russian flags in the recent days of angry protests and taking this new revelation from the US Secretary of State into account, Nigeria must be very careful about the proposed protest on October 1,” the former envoy said in a statement, adding: “Nigeria should be more careful and alert its citizenry to the truth about such platforms and their agents.”
At a press conference in Washington last week, Blinken accused African Stream of working for Russia, contrary to its claim to integrate African interests.
However, Hundeyin, in an interview with Russia Today, a Russian media outlet, denied the accusation and described it as a typical American tendency to label perceived opposing viewpoints.
Noting that many of the protesters in northern Nigeria in August displayed Russian flags, Roberts urged the federal government to take the threat of another protest in October seriously and take steps to nip it in the bud.
“As many of those behind the protests are linked to Mr Hundeyin and other members of the African Stream network, Nigeria only needs to look at what is happening in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to understand the danger they face,” he warned.
