African Action Congress (AAC) presidential candidate in the 2023 presidential election, Omoyele Sowore, said on Friday that Nigerian authorities have continued to detain one of the leaders of the #EndBadGovernanceInNigeria protest, Michael Adaramoye, popularly known as “Michael Lenin” simply by his nickname.
Mr. Adaramoye's nickname, Lenin, is the surname of a Russian revolutionary, Vladimir Lenin, who served as the founding head of the government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until his death in 1924, and of the Soviet Union from 1922 to 1924.
“The Nigerian government is still detaining Michael Adaramoye alias “Lenin” because they said his nickname “Lenin” proves that he was the person behind the distribution of Russian flags in the north during the current conflict,” Mr. Sowore, founder of the Take It Back Movement, another group participating in the protest, posted on X.
PREMIUM TIMES reported that Adaramoye, the National Coordinator of the Youth Rights Campaign, was arrested at his home in the early hours of Monday, allegedly by men of the State Security Services (SSS). But the SSS said later in the day that the protest leader was not in their custody. He has not been released since.
Protests
The #EndBadGovernance protest has been taking place across the country since August 1, turning violent in some northern states and some protesters were seen waving Russian flags.
READ ALSO: #EndBadGovernance: Kano protesters speak out about waving Russian flags
President Bola Tinubu said the government would not tolerate the flying of foreign flags. The State Security Service (SSS) had already arrested several people in Kano and Kaduna as part of investigations into the flying of Russian flags. Among those arrested were seven Polish citizens, according to the SSS.
Police also arrested more than 30 suspects, including tailors, for sewing and waving flags during the protests.
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