The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has suspended its nationwide protest scheduled for June 12.
The association’s president, Mr. Sunday Asefon, announced the suspension in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja on Friday.
The statement titled “NANS suspends the June 12 demonstration due to concerns about the safety of protesters and fear of possible hijacking by politicians” was aimed at preventing peace in the country.
According to Asefon, the planned demonstration aimed to denounce the insecurity in the country, in particular the serial kidnappings of students.
Asefon, however, said some politicians with “a different agenda” devised plans to hijack the protest in order to “vent their political views and feelings”.
He said, “The student body was not associated with the secessionist campaign.
“Having taken into account the current security realities and the danger to the lives of our members in the event of a possible hijacking of the planned event, I am therefore announcing in consultation with all the structures of the NANS the suspension of our demonstration proposal for the June 12.
“The suspension of the demonstration is necessary to avoid a conflict of interest and a clash with the security agencies who are on red alert to protect the country’s infrastructure against security breaches on the date proposed following many others events planned for the date.
“We intend to protest for better safety and well-being for our students, so we must not put the lives of any of our students in danger to voice our grievances,” he said.
Asefon added that the protest was not canceled but postponed as a new date would be announced for the protest later.
