Take It Back Movement plans nationwide protest on June 12 over insecurity, economic crisis

Annabel Adaeze 

The Take It Back Movement has announced a nationwide protest scheduled for June 12 to spotlight escalating insecurity, shrinking civil liberties, and deepening economic hardship across Nigeria.

In a statement made public to journalists on Monday, the group’s National Coordinator, Juwon Sanyaolu, condemned ongoing violence in the Middle Belt and northern regions, particularly in Benue, Plateau, and Southern Kaduna.

According to him, communities have been decimated and thousands displaced, while the government continues to ignore or downplay the scale of the crisis.

“Mass killings are now tragically routine in Plateau, Benue, Southern Kaduna, and other parts of the Middle Belt,” the statement read. 

“Entire communities are being wiped out. Lives are lost without consequence. Internally displaced persons continue to grow in number, while perpetrators walk free.

"The state, through its silence or denial, has become complicit. This is no longer democracy—it’s organised cruelty.”

Sanyaolu also accused the Federal Government of suppressing dissent, citing recent arrests of protesters, detention of activists, and censorship of journalists and social media users under the Cybercrime Act.

He described the situation as part of a broader effort to silence opposition voices and undermine democratic freedoms.

“Across Nigeria, the collapse of democracy is unmistakable,” he said. “What was once won through hard-fought struggle has now been dismantled by those who once promised reform. Today, Nigeria is not a democracy but a nation at war with its own people.”

He continued, “Freedom of expression is under siege. Citizens are harassed, arrested, or jailed for speaking out—on the streets or online.

"The Cybercrime Act has become a tool for tracking and punishing dissent, turning legitimate criticism into a criminal act.”

Rejecting official celebrations of Democracy Day, the movement called on Nigerians to take to the streets in peaceful protest. 

Sanyaolu urged workers, students, civil society groups, artisans, and Nigerians in the diaspora to join the demonstration.

“This June 12, we march not just for ourselves, but for those killed in Benue, displaced in Plateau, silenced in detention, and left to suffer by a corrupt and indifferent elite," he said.