The City Boy Movement on Friday accused unknown organizers of staging a politically motivated picket at its Abuja headquarters.
The group in a statement by its Deputy Director-General on Media, Communications and Public Affairs O’tega Ogra said
the action was intended to intimidate members, provoke confrontation and advance a false narrative about the organization’s stance on insecurity.
“Let us be plain: what took place at our office was not a genuine protest,” O’tega said.
“It was a sponsored political action aimed at provoking confrontation, intimidating our members, and pinning a false narrative on the City Boy Movement.”
Security has emerged as a central and often divisive issue in Nigeria.
In his national address Friday, President Bola Tinubu urged militants to surrender or face “the full force of the Nigerian State,” warning that “no mercy will be shown to those who trade in the blood of Nigerians.”
The City Boy Movement said it stands “solidly behind” the President’s message.
The group also cited government figures to argue that progress is being made: It said terror-related deaths have fallen 81 percent since 2015, that more than 13,000 suspected terrorists were neutralized in the past year, and that the 2026 budget allocates a record ₦5.41 trillion to defense and security.
Courts, it added, recently handed down sentences in connection with the Papiri church attack.
“Anyone who says otherwise is either not paying attention or has reasons for wanting Nigerians not to pay attention,” the statement said.
Footage preserved by the movement, the statement said, captured at least one individual at the gate calling for the group’s property to be set on fire—an act the movement characterized as a threat of arson rather than a lawful protest.
The recording has been handed to security and law-enforcement authorities, the group said, and it pledged to pursue legal remedies.
The movement reaffirmed the principle of peaceful assembly while drawing sharp distinctions between legitimate protest and what it called “provocation.”
It listed what it described as limits to protest rights: those who assemble do not possess the right to prevent others from participating, to silence dissenting voices, or to intimidate disagreeing citizens.
“Do not allow yourselves to be used by people who do not care about your pain, your safety, your future, or your country,” the statement warned young Nigerians.
“The people who send others to cause trouble often sit safely somewhere else.”
The City Boy Movement said it will cooperate with security agencies, protect its staff and property, and remain open to “sincere dialogue,” but that it will not tolerate harassment, blackmail or political manipulation disguised as protest.
It urged citizens to back what it described as an administration “on the right track under President Tinubu.”
