VIDEO: Nigerian Traders Thwart Re-Arrest Of Man Protesting Against Hardship, Hunger

A dramatic scene unfolded at the bustling Wuse Market in Abuja on Thursday as traders rallied around a social media influencer, Flag Boy, preventing his re-arrest by police officers.

Flag Boy had been arrested on Monday for staging a solo protest, holding a sign that read, “Hunger Dey OOO!” (meaning “There is hunger” in pidgin English).

The attempted re-arrest sparked outrage among traders, who gathered in large numbers, shouting, “Hungry dey oh! Is there no hunger in Nigeria? Why arrest someone for exercising their right to protest against the unbearable hunger in the country?” One trader exclaimed, “I haven’t eaten since morning oh! This is the worst government in Nigeria. What do they want from us? They (political leaders) will be killing us and they won’t allow us to complain. This is not democracy. Military junta is now better oh!”

The crowd accused the Nigeria Police Force of trying to silence citizens from speaking out against poor leadership, chanting, “It will not happen!” The scene was captured in several videos seen by SaharaReporters.

Flag Boy in one of the videos said, “Nigerians make una see, police come meet me for my place of work and said that DPO of their station wants to see me. I told them that I will call the DPO on phone that he already called me before. “The next thing, this man here (pointing to a man in mufti) come ‘jack’ (manhandled) me. See how he scatter my clothes. I asked them is it arrest they want to arrest me or invite they want invite to me because if you come to invite me, according to Constitution, I have a right to tell you when I will acknowledge your invitation. “But if you are here to arrest me show me your arrest warrant and I will kindly follow you. I am a law-abiding citizen and I have not committed any crime to warrant police on plainclothes coming to hijack me in my place of work without saying what I have done.”

Earlier, Flag Boy had sent a message saying his life was in danger, revealing that the DPO of Wuse Zone 3 wanted to arrest him again. However, in an update on Friday, he confirmed that the matter had been resolved, stating, “The traders did not allow the police to arrest me on Thursday. I called some people and they later got in touch with the police commissioner; that was how it was resolved. “I was told that after I was released on Monday, they heard that some people protested somewhere and thought I was there. I think they later did their investigation and found out I was not there.”

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