Economic Hardship: Nigerian Tiktoker arrested for calling for protest

A Nigerian Tiktoker, Junaidu Abdullahi aka Abusalma, has been remanded in prison custody after posting a viral video calling for mass protest over hardship in the country.

Daily Nigerian reports that Abusalma was allegedly picked by security agents on Wednesday and subsequently taken to Abuja. Confirming the situation to Daily Nigerian, Abusalma’s relative, Mustapha Hamza, said the Tiktoker is currently remanded at Kurmawa prison in Kano.

“He left home in a hurry on Wednesday morning after receiving an urgent call around 8:30am. He left without even eating breakfast. That was the last time his family saw him.We reported the matter to the police station, and they immediately made a radio call, declaring him as a missing person.As we continued searching for his whereabouts, I received a call yesterday (Friday) around 5:30pm, with the caller informing me that Junaidu is at Kurmawa prison in Kano. He further revealed that Court 38 Zungeru Road, Kano ordered his remand and adjourned the case till after three weeks.

Daily Nigerian reports that the Tiktoker recently made a video, saying that any Islamic cleric who spoke against the planned protest should be pulled down from the pulpit. Any religious leader who spoke against peaceful protest over hardship, then he is not part of those suffering. And whoever stops you from expressing your grievances to your leaders through peaceful protest as provided by the constitution, I swear he is not among those who can’t afford a sack of maize at N100,000.

I personally bought a bag of fertilizer at N49,000. That was the price of a sack of maize in the past. As I speak to you now, I gathered that the price of fertilizer has increased. I am not calling for volence or destr·ction, but we will come out and protest in a lawful manner. It is the responsibility of government to deal with those that cause breakdown of law and order during the protest.

The government has allowed terrorists to terrorise the people but they are trying to suppress a protest. Protest does not breed 3rrorism or banditry.
If protest will lead to overthrow of the government, so be it. Any cleric who preaches against protest, pull him down from the pulpit… Pull him down! Let’s protest peacefully in order to be heard. We are not calling on government to buy cars or planes or yacht for the masses, we are only after the food to eat,” Abusalma said in the viral video.

But a couple of days after posting the video, Abusalma deleted it and apologised to the Islamic clerics. He also called on people to shun the protest as it may lead to breakdown of law and order.