A civil society organization has alleged that the Gombe state Ibrahim Dankwambo and some other top members of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) sponsored the anti-Buhari protest ongoing in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital city.

The Centre for Truth and Justice (CTJ) said top members of the PDP including former Ondo state governor Olusegun Mimiko paid N300 million to the leaders of the anti-Buhari protests in Abuja.

CTJ’s national coordinator Timothy Charles while speaking to journalists in Abuja also described the protest led by musician Charles ‘Charly Boy’ Oputa as “sponsored anti-Buhari protests” said the PDP members engaged some celebrities and organizers of the protest for fear of President Muhammadu Buhari’s resumption.

Charles said the protesters and their leaders were paid with an directive to cause disorder across the nation in order to portray the Buhari administration as anti-people.

He said patriotic citizens would have conducted themselves in orderly manner and cooperated with law enforcement to ensure their march was not hijacked.

Charles also said same cannot be said for the #ourmumudondo protesters, whose thugs were confrontational against law enforcement agents from the start.

He said: “Another thing that these protesters are unaware of was that their sponsors have equally mobilized thugs to join the so-called protests for the sole aim of fomenting trouble. The strategy is for these thugs to deliberately clash with law enforcement and then cause widespread violence, arson and looting that will eventually result in a breakdown of law and order.

“Even more worrisome is the specific request from these sponsors that the thugs must ensure there is loss of life from the protest so that they can claim that security agencies and by implication the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is killing protesters,” Charles said.

He also alleged that the sponsors of the protest have tried various gimmicks in the past, in an attempt to throw the country into confusion but have failed.

“Some of them have sponsored terrorism or militancy, depending on the region, and failed to use these to bring Nigeria down. They have now resorted to street protests under the guise that they are demanding President Muhammadu Buhari to cut short his medical vacation and resume duties.

“For those who have not noticed, we want to point out that these protesters are not new. They had held similar protests in the past under different names and with multiple excuses. What they have simply done this time is to rebrand their name into #ourmumudondo and add a few more desperate celebrity activists to their ranks; their driving ideology for causing chaos has not changed one bit.”

To prove that these protests have motives other than the one the protesters are presenting, even the explanation by the Senate that President Buhari has not breached any rule did not suffice to educate them to desist from their foolish ways. Instead, they are heaping insults on the lawmakers simply because they could not have their way.

“Such intolerance smacks of people with a fascist bend of mind even when they masquerade that their actions were driven by a law for democracy. Unfortunately, their own brand of democracy does not accept a National Assembly.

“We therefore warn Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo and former Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko who are the brain behind the protest against the ailing President.

“Both Dankwambo and Mimiko are entitled to throw away their humanity on the altar of ambition but they must be aware that whatever position they are desperate to attain is not worth plunging the country into crisis over. They are free to spend their money any way they want but financing urchins, riffraff and celebrity activists but truly patriotic Nigerians will not sit by and watch them plunge the country into trouble,” the group said.

It was earlier reported that there was tension in Abuja on Friday, August 11, after members of a pro-Buhari protesting group tried to confront the anti-Buhari protesters led by Char;y Boy and a former PDP director of new media Deji Adeyanju.

The pro-Buhari group during its protest at the Unity Fountain had charged towards the pro-Buhari group before they were stopped by the police and other security officers.

The pro-Buhari group were protesting against corruption and the attempt by some groups – including the Charly Boy-led group – to undermine the efforts of the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration in fighting corruption.

However, the Charly Boy group in their demand condemned the long stay of President Buhari in London.

They also called for the resumption of duty by the president or his resignation.