Abuja protesters march in President's support

The demonstrators marched from the Unity Fountain to the Presidential Villa as they sang in solidarity with the president's administration.

The group displayed placards bearing messages like, Buhari, Osinbajo, we are fully with you","Our president is recuperating, Nigeria is moving forward. No cause for alarm", "Nigerians unite for peace", "We stand against terrorism", "If we don't kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. - Buhari".

While addressing the crowd, the group's leader Okpokwu Ogenyi, said, "No provision of the Constitution gave time limit when the President is expected to return and resume his duties if sick as well, it is not found anywhere in the constitution the time frame of an Acting President .

"In as much as we all want our President back to his duties, the Constitution never stipulated how long a serving President of Nigeria can be away on medical holiday.

"Anyone demanding the resignation or forced return of the President is daring God.

"What the constitution required of President Muhammadu Buhari to do in event of such vacation was to take hand over to the Vice President by transmitting a letter to the National Assembly.

"President Buhari did exactly that and the Vice President automatically became the Acting President and has been working in line with their joint mandate to meet the yearnings of Nigerians"

The group's solidarity march is a counter-protest to a wave of anti-Buhari protests that have rocked the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) since Monday, August 7.

The sit-out protest against the absentee president started with the "Our Mumu Don Do" movement led by entertainer and activist Charles Oputa (Charly Boy), who marched from Unity Fountain down to the Presidential Villa.

On Tuesday, the group, alongside "Concerned Nigerians" group, led by former social media director of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), Deji Adeyanju, were attacked by the police when officers fired gas canisters and water cannons to dismiss them.

ALSO READ: Police attack protesters against President with teargas, water cannons

A protester was injured and had to be rushed to the Federal Staff Clinic Federal Secretariat, while Charly Boy also fainted due to the attack.

Despite Tuesday's setback, the group marched again in Abuja on Wednesday with renewed strength in numbers.

The protesters' full demands are: "that the president either personally or through his aides make the true detail of his health known to all Nigerians; that president should address all Nigerians in a language we can all understand on the true state of his health and other national issues; that he returns to the country and resume work as president of Federal Republic of Nigeria in order to lead us out economic and security quagmire we have been pushed into as a nation; if President Buhari fails, refuses and/ or neglect to do any of the above , then he should resign from office; if he fails to honourably resign, then he should be impeached from office by the national assembly."

ALSO READ: Protesters demand President's return or resignation

President Buhari left the country on May 7 to resume treatment in London for an undisclosed illness, leaving Acting President Yemi Osinbajo in charge of the country's affairs.

77 days after he left the country, pictures of President Buhari finally surfaced online when he met with state governors of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) on July 23, at the Abuja House in London.

Since then, he has met with another delegation of Nigerian governors, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, as well as the Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby.

The First Lady, Aisha Buhari travelled to London to meet the president on Sunday, August 6, ahead of what is considered to be his return.

The president and his team have insisted that his return is imminent, but there has been no confirmed date.