August 30, (THEWILL) – A Coalition of Civil Society Organisations on Monday, staged a protest in Benin-City, the Edo State capital, against plans by the State government to restrict movement of persons without COVID-19 certificates.
The protesters, who wore t-shirts with inscriptions such as ‘No To Forced Vaccination,’ ‘My Life, My Right’, among others, walked around the city and converged at the Government House protesting what they described as Governor Godwin Obaseki’s forced vaccination and restriction of movement policy.
Led by Chris Iyama, the group insisted that the recent directive by the Governor infringed on their Fundamental Human Rights.
They resisted what they described as forceful vaccination and vaccine profiling and issued a seven-day ultimatum for the Governor to rescind the decision
“Governor Obaseki must rescind his decision. That decision will not stand. The Governor did not seek our opinion. We are giving the Governor seven days,” Iyama said.
The Secretary to the State Government addressed the protesters and informed them that the Governor and the Deputy Governor were not around.
Chief of Staff to the State Government, Osaigbovo Iyoha was also on ground to receive the protesters.
He received their letter of petition and promised to inform the state Governor about their demands.
THEWILL reports that the Edo State Governor had announced that residents without proof of COVID-19 vaccination would be barred from public facilities and large gatherings.
Obaseki had lamented the increasing cases of COVID-19 infections in the state, adding that the government’s efforts were geared towards mitigating the spike in the number of cases.
