Nigerian Comedian and activist, Debo Adebayo, known as Mr Macaroni, has finally spoken after his arrest when he joined many other youths to protest the go-ahead given to the operators of Lekki Tollgate to commence full operation.
The new protest tagged #OccupyLekkiTollgate occurred yesterday, February 13, 2021 despite the Lagos State government and security agencies warning against such gathering. And as expected, Mr. Macaroni in company of many others were arrested in the morning, detained and later released on bail.
The comedian took to his social media handles after the release to still lambast the government and the Nigerian Police Force for disrupting a peaceful protest, wondering what kind of democracy is being practised in the country.
“So you have over two hundred policemen out there yesterday and you want to tell me you could not guarantee a peaceful protest? This shows that you guys are irresponsible,” he said.
Mr. Macaroni was, however, grateful for the massive supports he got from Nigerians when he was arrested.
“I want to thank everyone for speaking up and the show of love.
“No be seh na me brave pass o. Infact, I was scared and very scared; I didn’t want to go out at all. As a matter of fact, my father, all of my siblings and friends advised me against going out that day. In my heart of hearts, I didn’t want to go out.
“But the other reason I went there was because I knew people would be there with good conscience. I was actually at Lekki Phase 1 and about shooting one of my skits that morning to show you I didn’t plan going there.
“The situation we’re in this country, people are scared. You think I’m not scared? But we know we’re in a government that has zero value for human lives; they will kill anybody and dehumanise anybody.
“This is not the time to blame anyone. All we need now is one love and come together to speak against what is going on in our society,” he said.
Debo confirmed that he already knew ahead that he would be arrested before he stepped on the protest ground.
“I already knew two people had been arrested before I got there, so I knew I couldn’t escape it. When we were picked up and taken away, we were beaten and stripped naked.
“The 39 people, both male and female, that were arrested with me are the true heroes of the struggle and they were the ones who encouraged me to go out and see what was going on yesterday,” the activist said.
Adebayo spoke more on the reason behind the new protests and why he cursed some Nigerians in the video below.
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