A group of youths in Ebonyi State who recently staged a protest calling on Arise TV anchor Rufai Oseni to apologise to Minister of Works David (Dave) Umahi have sparked a sharp reaction online after footage of the demonstration circulated on social media. The protesters had given the journalist a 24-hour ultimatum to apologise, accusing him of disrespecting the minister during a live interview.
In a widely-shared video and accompanying post, a social-media user identifying as “Verydarkman” warned the protesters to stop what he described as “foulness in the name of protest,” and threatened that if similar demonstrations occur again there would be a larger response demanding that Umahi account for how public funds have been spent including allegations about a large road contract worth hundreds of billions of naira.
The speaker also accused the minister of attempting to “oppress” a journalist. Those remarks were posted and reposted across Instagram, Facebook and X.
The protest followed a heated exchange between Rufai Oseni and Minister Umahi on national television that many viewers described as tense; clips of the interview and the subsequent street action circulated widely online.
