Ex-British Diplomat Warns Against Oct Protests, Hints At Foreign Backing

 A former British diplomat, Mr. David Roberts, has warned the Federal Government against the rising cost of living protests scheduled for October, saying foreign interests may be behind the organisers.

A group, the Coalition of Concerned Nigerian Citizens, had on August 28, 2024, in Osog­bo threatened to stage protests larger than August’s if the Federal Government does not bring down the high cost of liv­ing by October 1, 2024.

However, Roberts, who was director of the British Council in Nigeria, warned that foreign interests may use Nigerians’ genuine concerns to destabilise the country.

Speaking against the back­ground of last week’s revelation by the US Secretary of State, Mr. Anthony Blinken, that African Stream, a media outlet associat­ed with David Hundeyin, one of the supporters of the August #endbadgovernce protests, is an undercover Russian intelli­gence psychological operation aimed at destabilising Nigeria.

Subsequently, African Stream has been banned from Facebook due to its alleged Rus­sian undercover links.

“In light of the wide use of Russian flags in the last days of rage protests and taking this new revelation by the U.S. Secretary of State, Nigeria ought to be very careful about the proposed October 1st pro­test,” the former envoy said in a statement on Thursday, add­ing, “Nigeria should take more care 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 of mainstreaming Africa’s interests.

However, Hundeyin, in an interview with Russia Today, a Russian broadcast media, de­nied the allegation, describing it as a typical American tenden­cy to label perceived opposing viewpoints.

Recalling that many of the August protesters in the North displayed the Russian flags, Roberts admonished the Federal Government to take the threat of another protest in October seriously and take measures to nip it in the bud.

“As many of those behind the protests are linked to Mr. Hundeyin and others from the African Stream network, Nige­ria only needs to look at what is happening in Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso to understand the peril they face,” he warned.

The Federal Government, in the wake of the August protests against the rising cost of living, said the demonstrations were backed by external bodies and subsequently charged a Briton, David Wynne, and 12 other Ni­gerians with treason.