By Sarah NEGEDU
Major roads leading to the Eagles Square and the Federal Secretariat in Abuja were barricaded early Monday morning, by security agencies, preventing aggrieved Nigerians access to the venue for their planned protest.
The protest, which is part of a nationwide demonstration spearheaded by the Take-It-Back Movement and other civil society organisations, began early Monday morning to express their displeasure against the controversial cybercrime law, the emergency rule in Rivers State, among other national issues.
However, riot police in the Federal Capital Territory were deployed to the Eagle Square even before daybreak where they used their vehicles to block all adjoining roads to the Square.
Our correspondent observed that workers and private persons who had taken to their usual routes to access their offices on Monday morning, were stranded, as they were turned back by the security agents.
Those who insisted on going to their offices, which share a boundary with Eagles Square, were forced to disembark from their buses and trek to their respective offices under security watch.
As a result of this, the roads leading to Eagles Square and the adjoining areas were flooded with commuters and vehicles, leading to traffic gridlock and struggle by passengers to exit the crowded areas.
The Abuja Inquirer reports that police operatives dispersed protesters with tear gas in the Maitama area, causing chaos as the tear gas canisters sent many scampering for safety.
The police declined to comment on why they needed to block the roads and avoid suffering for workers on a working day.
