DSS Arrests Activist Over Call for Monday Protests After Tinubu’s Address.

Micheal Lenin, a prominent leader of the ongoing Endbadgovernance protests in Abuja, was arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS) early Monday morning. The arrest took place at Lenin’s residence in the Apo area of the Federal Capital Territory around 2 a.m. During the raid, which was conducted in the presence of Lenin’s family, DSS operatives detained him.

Damilare Adenola, Director of Mobilisation for the Take It Back Movement, confirmed the arrest and demanded Lenin’s immediate and unconditional release. Adenola criticized the DSS’s actions, calling them a severe infringement on the rights of activists.

Lenin had recently criticized President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s national address on the protests. He claimed that Tinubu’s speech, delivered after more than three weeks of demonstrations and following incidents of violence against protesters and journalists, demonstrated a disconnect from the realities faced by ordinary Nigerians. Lenin argued that the President’s response was dismissive of the protesters’ demands and merely justified state violence.

In his statements, Lenin urged Nigerians to continue the protests, highlighting a perceived failure of both violence and propaganda to address the core issues. He criticized the government’s approach and called for sustained public action until the protesters’ demands were met.