Protest Erupts In Abuja Over Cybercrime Act, Economic Hardship, Rivers State Crisis

By Onoja Baba, Nigeria 

A wave of discontent swept through Nigeria’s capital on Monday, as scores of protesters took to the streets to demand action on a range of national issues, including the controversial Cybercrime Act, rising economic hardship, and the deepening political crisis in Rivers State.

The protest, spearheaded by the Take-It-Back (TIB) Movement in collaboration with several civil society organisations, began early in the morning and saw demonstrators marching through parts of Abuja brandishing placards with inscriptions such as “Stop the Repression” and “Let Us Breathe.”

The organisers described the demonstration as a peaceful resistance against what they termed the government’s “increasing authoritarianism” and its failure to address the deteriorating living conditions of the Nigerian people.

Prominent human rights advocate and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, was among the notable figures present at the protest ground, lending both moral and physical support to the demonstrators.

TIB’s National Coordinator, Juwon Sanyaolu, in a statement issued ahead of the protest, underscored the urgency of the action. “We are compelled to take to the streets in response to the relentless abuse of the Cybercrime Act to silence dissent, the unbearable inflation that is crushing the average Nigerian, and the unfolding state of emergency in Rivers State,” he said.

The protesters are calling for a review of the Cybercrime Act, which they argue has become a tool for stifling freedom of expression.

They also demand concrete measures to address inflation, unemployment, and insecurity, as well as federal intervention in the political turmoil rocking Rivers State.

Security operatives were seen monitoring the protest from a distance, and as of the time of filing this report, the demonstration remained largely peaceful.

The Take-It-Back Movement and its allies have vowed to continue the protest nationwide if their demands are not addressed promptly.

Recall earlier today, African Culture TV reported that the Nigeria Police Force has placed its personnel on red alert across the country ahead of a planned nationwide protest scheduled for today, Monday, April 7, 2025, by the Take-It-Back Movement and other civil society groups.

In a statement on Sunday, the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said the protest was ill-timed and “mischievous,” as it coincides with the maiden National Police Day celebration.

Adejobi said: “The Nigeria Police Force has read in the news that a group called Take-It-Back Movement is planning a protest across various states of the Federation, most especially the Federal Capital Territory, scheduled to hold on Monday, 7th April, 2025, a day earmarked by the Federal Government as the National Police Day.”

“While not against the exercise of citizens’ right to peaceful assembly and association in Nigeria as enshrined in the Constitution, the Nigeria Police Force is deeply concerned about the motive behind such protest scheduled on the same day the contributions of the Nigeria Police Force to national security are to be celebrated.”

Adejobi emphasized that staging a protest on the same day the police are being honored was “questionable” and could “malign the image of the police and the nation as a whole.”