 The Ensar's memorial of Wednesday was filled with the good, the bad and the ugly. Young people came out to protest, police arrested demonstrators and tear gas journalists and the federal government debunked reports of killings at the Lecky Toe Plaza. We'll be talking about all of it today and ask the question, has anything changed one year after? We'll also take a look at the papers, like always. An analyst would be joining us this morning for that. Good morning to you, thanks for joining us on a Thursday morning here on PLOS TV Africa. It's the breakfast and I am Osaugi Ogmama. Good morning. And I am Messia Boppu. Good morning. Of course, with all the drama yesterday, we have a lot to talk about concerning the Ensar's protest and the memorial really and the events from yesterday, the reactions from people who were on ground, journalists and of course the police. And we very likely will be speaking with some of those people who witnessed a lot of the happenings yesterday. The big question really is, has anything changed? And I'm sure you already know the answer to that. But of course we'll be having people join us to share their views on what really is different between the last one year since the Ensar's protest in 2020 and where we are today in 2021. But we'll start with the top trending stories and of course just share, the conversation still continues with regards to police brutality and the respect for the rights of the Nigerian. For everyone who followed the events of yesterday and saw pictures, saw videos for people who were on ground at the Leckito Plaza, there's so much that happened yesterday. And it felt opening up old wounds. I saw a lot of the views and a lot of the reactions from people online who basically were saying about the same thing, that it doesn't seem like anything whatsoever is different about the way that the Nigerian police sees its citizens. And I saw a person ask that question, how the Nigerian police doesn't understand in any way the responsibility that it has. And it always seems, it always positions itself as anti people. And that's really what it is. The Nigerian police officers always see themselves as anti people. They're almost never feeling like they're responsible for the lives and for the protection of the people that they are called to serve. And they've continued to be that way. And one year after the Ensar's protest, from my analysis, absolutely nothing has changed. Definitely. Nothing has changed. We now have the, I'm not sure what group that is, LNCS, LN, the guys wearing purple shirts and brown trousers, it seems like they joined the fight yesterday. Well, like you rightly mentioned, nothing has really changed. That's because the same reason Nigerians took to the streets to protest, we kind of saw a reputation or the reason why they went on the street in the first place. So I felt like, you know, no lessons learned at all. It felt like all of the things that we have been talking about, we have just been blabbing, if I would like to put it. It feels like we've just been making a hell of a noise and no one is listening. And it's quite unfortunate to even think that, you know, it is constitutionally guaranteed that everyone has a right to a peaceful assembly. Why do you use Turkish and the people? The only time that would happen, because they do have a right to gather, they do have a right of association. And the only time that right, you know, would be taken from them is when the constituted nuisance that would translate into destruction of lives and properties. But that has never been the case. So ironically, like I always say, one would expect that the police would be there to ensure that those who are protesting are protected and that other elements would not hijack the protest. Rather, you find that that people, you find that those who should protect the protesters are the ones harassing. And it's crazy that the people who should protect the protesters, you know, turn out to be the reasons the protesters are even out on the streets in the first place. Because the people who have been paid, who have taken a vow to and and sworn to serve the people, you know, have now become the oppressors and become, you know, the ones that people are protesting against. And, you know, they still don't seem to understand exactly what it is. And, you know, I was referring to someone Stigman Ellis by Sam Hart. It says, why the Nigerian police sees themselves as oppressors of the people is beyond me. How can your entire setup and MO be anti-people? Who led you to believe the force in your title is reserved for the people? How can we reorientate the police to be for the people? And that's really what it is. And this, you know, transcends from the top to the bottom, you know, from the commission of police all the way down to what are these people called the LNCS, LNSC. Let's see if I can find the leg of state neighborhood agency. I'm not even sure who those people are. But I know I've seen those. Yeah, people in our society, I mean, they're still part of the country. They're still part of the system. But I'm not sure exactly what their responsibility is. And if they're meant to be a part of the policing system, I've seen those uniforms and I've seen them every now and then, junctions, Admiralty gate entrance there and some of all of that. But I'm not sure why. And that's is one of the things that disgust me and irritates me the most. Why do you have people who are not even police officers enforcing dragging people into into black maria's and those police ones? And these are, once again, the leg of state neighborhood agency. Who are they? And it is mind blowing, the level of authority and the level of inhumane character that the Nigerian has, immediately you give the Nigerian a uniform. Once you dress a Nigerian in a in any sort of uniform, they immediately and as long as it has anything to do with security or anything, they immediately see themselves as oppressors. Those LSNC, you know, guys where I mean, you could have missed them in the drama that happened yesterday. They were a part of the whole process. You're not even in the police force. You're not even I'm not even sure who you are in the first place. That's one angle. And I saw people saying to you yesterday that, okay, the LSNC has joined the battle. Because obviously you've now turned yourself and your organization. They put out a statement. I'm just going to quickly share. It says the management of the leg of state neighborhood agencies has summoned its officers, captured, struggling with fellow arrested in viral video emanating from the scene of the ENSA's anniversary. In the aftermath of the incident, the general manager of the agency, Prince Ifalade Oyecon, decried the conduct of the officers as he believed it was below the standard operating procedure of the agency, especially as it affects the protocol of arrest. As an agency striving to meet the role of the themes, agenda of the governor of the state, the agency will not condone any form of indiscipline or actions capable of bringing it to disrepute. While it will, as a socially responsible management, give the officers opportunity for fair hearing. Consequently, the officers will face an internally or rather internal orderly trial to determine their culpability in the said event and be dealt with if found guilty. So maybe we'll get into a conversation about how you don't even need to investigate further because video evidence is right there of what they did. Yesterday, when I actually saw that video, I was really emotional. And of course, I shed a few tears, really, really sad. Now, it brings us back to the fact that in the course of discharging our duties, first of all, one would expect that the Nigerian police force should understand what the Constitution talks about. I mean, I really do not understand because we all know that we are, I mean, for every state, for every organization, there is a rule book. And for Nigeria, the Constitution is that book. We should abide and obey what is written in the Constitution. So for me, I really don't understand if they don't understand what the Constitution says or they are just deciding to act. I think it is just a complete disrespect for, you know, the rule of law and disrespect for whatever the Constitution says because they, you know, didn't get into the police force to respect the Constitution. They got into the police force to be oppressors and to wear that uniform and to carry guns and whatnot. So it's not a lack of understanding. It is a disregard for whatever it is. And a disregard because the people on top and talking from the inspector general all the way down will somehow, somewhere always take sides. You see the legal say commission of police coming, you know, on live television to say that the people who were tear gassed were hoodlums who came to hijack or came to destroy, you know, some of all of that. I mean, basically just I would say lying, you know, right there on. I actually saw that statement and, you know, because he generated a lot of conversation in different spaces. And my concern was we had the plus TV team on ground. Could he also mean that, you know, the people who went there, I mean, the crew, the reporter and the camera man? So I think they obviously know what they're doing. And when they make these statements, you know, it's, you know, to defend their actions. And it doesn't matter if they have to lie to defend their actions, they lie. It is wild how people were arrested yesterday for carrying the Nigerian flag. It tells, it really just tells you the level of mental illness that exists in our society and with these persons and the reason that they are out on the streets. It's not to protect, it's not to serve. It is also crazy. And it's important to state that in all your state there was a protest yesterday. But these protesters were guarded by the police. They were escorted by the police. This is an all your state that has a governor, Shai Makimdi, compared to other states that also try to protest. And so there's, you can see a clear difference between what the, what the governance energy is, you know, your state and what it is in Lagos and what it is in Abuja. The police were there with the protesters. They had their memorial. They had their candlelight procession later in the evening. They did everything peacefully. The police was there. They escorted and they drove along with these protesters. That's what it's obtained. That's what it should be. But it's a completely, people are arrested yesterday for carrying the Nigerian flag. There's a video of an Uber driver who kept saying that. That's the one that got my attention. That's the one that got my attention. And, you know, like I rightly mentioned, it's really, really sad. The fact that we continue to enthrone impunity. We continue to enthrone lawlessness. We continue to act, you know, like rascals. We continue to act like people without a government, without a law. It is totally shameful. And I'm hoping that, you know, we get to a point where we understand not even in the cost of discharging your duties, we should behave like civil people. So let's even assume you're going to arrest, you know, and force an arrest. How do you even go about it? Because sometimes I just ask myself, why do we treat people like animals? I'm sure that the dogs would do better. Really? I don't know. But it's really, really sad. And I'm hoping that, you know, we get to a point where we really, really understand that this is a democratic dispensation and that every state in every country is governed by the constitution, especially in a democratic, and then there should be respect for the law, what the law says. And if you find people who are transgressing, there should be brought to book. People should be made to, no, I really don't understand because it feels like it's a hopeless situation. So when you find a situation that you find protesters, who says this guy's can get out on the street? I can protest. And just yesterday, just to chip this in, I mean, it wasn't like, because I was trying to monitor where the protest was, you know, in different parts. And of course if I was a different thing entirely, but to even also notice that those who are protesting, I mean, those who clean the roads were also protesting yesterday. And at the end of the day, you have police force, you have members of the Nigerian police force, you know, putting tear gas. How do you demanding for their pay? People protest. No, it's really, really, it's really, really sad. I think I saw that story. If the people protest, you know, because of, you know, they, they might be paying pensions or they've not been paid salaries for months, they get tear gas in Nigeria. It's, we would have these discussions today. And of course, I'm sure you already know the answer to the question as anything changed. But that's what we'll be talking about today. Some other thing, of course, that is part of our top turn stories this morning is from the Minister of Information, Lime Mohammed, who says that CNN, DJ Switch, and I'm listening to this international, I believe, should apologize to the Nigerian government, you know, because they basically put out false narrative that it was a massacre at the Lekhi Toh Plaza on the 20th of October in 2020. And, you know, I've also gotten to hear in a lot of reactions, so there's a lot of inhalaries about people mostly have said that a government that refuses to own up, to accept, you know, responsibility will never be a held accountable or never allow itself to be held accountable. And this transcends in every single ramification, in every single sphere of the Nigerian state. Once the government fails, you know, to accept responsibility for anything, they will never, you know, allow themselves to be held accountable. It includes them. The Zaria massacre, which I also saw trend in yesterday, you know, in the Katharina State, it includes every single time that the Nigerian government has failed to protect the lives and property of its citizens. There's reports by Fisayo Cheyong, who is called a portraits of blood and tears, I think. There's also reports by the VBC. There's reports by CNN's Stephanie Boussari, that I saw a couple of days ago also, that basically tell and show testimony of people who said that they were there. They saw that people actually died. They saw dead bodies. They saw people were shot in their chest. There's a guy who was even part of the videos that we saw yesterday who said he was shot in his chest. He survived. He was his vlogger. He survived and he was out again yesterday. And he stated the things that he saw on that night. The guest that we had yesterday, who was a legal practitioner for the Ansarist protesters, also stated that they interviewed people. They spoke with many, many people who said that, yes, they actually did see that people died, but it was a problem getting these people to testify and their shanties were threatened to even stay silent at any time. And so I don't expect the Niger government to own up because they would never agree to be held to account as to the loss of lives of the Nigerian because the Nigerian government doesn't understand the value of the Nigerian life. Now, so at the end of the day, it just brings us to, it brings to mind the fact that there's a total disconnect that the government, the people who we elected, however, to represent our interests, there seemed to be a disconnect or there is a disconnect with the government and the people. Because when I saw that report in my mind, I'm like, what is really going on? Are we still in the same Niger? What are we talking about with all of the news, with all of the information, with all that is on? I mean, yesterday I guess as we had on the breakfast yesterday, he did mention the fact that even when the police were trying to leave in denial, they were saying, oh, we weren't really there. We were at the station and all of that. Their own records, you know, gave them out. So with all of this, how do you steal? It's really sad. It's a walk in progress. You know, and like, you know, one of the people that we spoke with, I think two days ago, it's at the ENSA's, you know, campaign and the demand for police accountability has come to stay and it will, you know, continue to be a thing that would be spoken about until there is some level of accountability and responsibility by the Nigerian state and the Nigerian police. Now, one thing that I must really say is the fact that gradually we're moving away, we're drifting away from that, you know, particular perception that we have of Nigerians as very docile people, people who are quiet and don't get to speak. Although some courtes will say, yes, we're not getting the number or we're not getting the kind of engagement that we want, but I think that this is actually fair. It's good that the Nigerian people are beginning to get involved in the space and in governance and I'm hoping that, you know, that definitely keep the same energy. A lot more needs to be done. My dad just texted me to say that I'm being too emotional. It's fine. Love you to that. Stay with us. We'll take a short break. When we come back, we're going to off the press to share with you the major stories, making headlines across the papers this morning. And Mr. Ezekiel, in the air talk, will be joining us once again. Good morning.