The Take It Back Movement has announced plans to stage a nationwide protest on June 12, 2025, in response to Nigeria’s escalating insecurity, shrinking civic freedoms, and worsening economic conditions.
In a statement released on Monday, the National Coordinator of the group, Juwon Sanyaolu, decried the continuous killings and displacement of residents in Nigeria’s Middle Belt and northern regions, citing states like Benue, Plateau, and Southern Kaduna as hotspots of persistent violence.
“Entire communities are being erased while the government either looks the other way or denies the extent of the tragedy,” Sanyaolu said. “The bloodshed has become routine, and the state remains complicit through inaction, negligence, or outright denial.”
He condemned what he described as a deliberate silencing of critical voices across the country, referencing arrests of protesters, harassment of journalists, and the targeting of social media users under the Cybercrime Act.
“Freedom of speech is under siege. Activists are being jailed, journalists harassed, and citizens arrested for expressing opinions online,” he stated. “This is not democracy. It’s organized cruelty.”
Sanyaolu further argued that the democratic values hard-won by past generations were being eroded. “Nigeria today is not a democratic state but one at war with its own people,” he said.
Rejecting the official celebrations of Democracy Day, the movement is calling on all Nigerians—including workers, students, artisans, and civil society organisations—to join the protest in solidarity.
“This June 12, we march not only for ourselves but for the victims of mass killings in Benue, the displaced in Plateau, the detained activists, and the hungry citizens left behind by a corrupt elite,” Sanyaolu declared.
The planned protest is set to take place in multiple cities across the country, with the group urging peaceful participation.