Osun suspends protest for Friday’s Osun-Osogbo festival

Mr Emmanuel Olowu, Chairman, Democracy Vanguards in Osun, has announced the suspension of the nationwide protest in the state to give room for a peaceful celebration of the Osun-Osogbo festival.

Olowu disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Osogbo on Tuesday.

NAN reports that the festival, which had quietly been ongoing amid the protest, will climax on Friday with the procession of the maiden calabash career.

Meanwhile, Olowu said the protesters, on Tuesday, handed over their demands to the state governor via his deputy, Mr Kola Adewusi.

He said the various arms of the protest reached a logical conclusion to suspend the protest and hold a news conference on Wednesday to brief the public on the suspension decision.

NAN reports that large numbers of protesters stormed the Osun Secretariat after they had moved along the Gbongan-Ibadan expressway through Ogo-Oluwa.

At the secretariat, the deputy governor addressed the protesters and promised to work with them to ensure the state remained peaceful.

Adewusi commended them for their peaceful disposition during the past six days of the protest.

NAN