OCCUPYNASS kicks off in Abuja, shuts in lawmakers

The National Assembly complex in Abuja has fallen under siege by hundreds of Nigerian youth protesting under the aegis of Occupy National Assembly movement.

Their demands: Sen. President Bukola Saraki should step down; the lawmakers should resolve the budget deadlock; and the 36 new cars the Senate just acquired should be returned.

The protest has been on the cards for days now, following Saraki’s hopping from one court to another suing for an order to halt his trial, and the embarrassing revelation of the No. 3 citizen’s underbelly by Panama Papers, a massive muckraking campaign by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalist.

Saraki has insisted he will not budge a rap in spite of the exposure of his offshore wealth in Panama and the British Virgin Islands.

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It was learnt that the movement poured into the complex, ignoring the security agents mounting guard, as they locked the entrance gate so no legislator can come in or go out.

The youth threatened mobilised more protesters for days-long occupation of the premises until all the lawmakers meet the demands.

Tuesday marks the first of the three days the protesters plan to stay put on the premises.

OccupyNASS is put together by Citizens United for Peace and Stability, an NGO that has reached to Nigerians in the diaspora to organise similar protests across the world.

The group has raised more than about N400,000 to finance the protest.