By Olusegun O' Law Fiery Lagos preacher and convener of the Save Nigeria Group, Pastor Tunde Bakare has reiterated his commitment to the protest against the removal of fuel subsidy by the government of President Goodluck Jonathan.In an interview at the Save Nigeria Group office in Lagos, Pastor Tunde Bakare told citizen journalist Segun O'law that the government of Goodluck Jonathan had planned to put Niger Delta militants amongst non-violent protesters, which was detected and made the organizers suspend the street protests to enable them re-strategize.Were fighting for what is just. We marched our people down to Ojota for a protest and the federal government rolled out the military. Our people were maimed and killed. That is not responsible leadership! We were determined to go there for a victory rally, but we gathered security information that they were bringing militants to mix up with us and make mayhem. The Save Nigeria Group sits, plans and God blesses our actions. We did it in the dieing days of Yar Adua and we got result. On this one, we are not backing off until we get results. Thats why our lawsuit is already filed in court because we dont engage in violent struggles that result into bloodshed. We are a civil people and know how to handle matters like this one in a civilized manner. We are not going to join them in their desperate display of arrogant power. We will not give up. We would rather fail in what will eventually succeed, than succeed in what will eventually fail!When asked what the Save Nigeria Group would do should Federal Government cut the Subsidy finally as planned for April, Pastor Tunde Bakare stated; We have not even backed off yet because we have not accepted the N97. Labour and TUC said it was imposed by the government. They have decided to go to Belgore Committee and see if they will find a lasting solution to the problem, but we have our own usual way of getting results. We will continue doing what we are doing because God is on the side of what is right and just.On his reaction to the deployment of soldiers to the protest venue, he said; We do not expect any serious government not to act on such yearnings by the citizens, but they went out of the boundaries of decency by rolling out the military to attack civilians who were not violent, attempting to shed blood from war in time of peace. Thats why we did not join them to do thatThe Save Nigeria Group Convener also made it clear that the protest had nothing to do with the Nigeria Labour Congress, recounting that there were still pockets of protests in Kano, Kaduna and Abuja after the NLC strike was called off. It was the military occupation at Ojota that led to a change of tactics. We are still going to continue to the protest, we have not stopped. NLC only called off their strike and not the protest. We are not affiliates of NLC or TUC he added.read more
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