Lekki Killings: PDP Asks Buhari To Accept Responsibility

…Says President Could Have Averted Bloodbath

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sent a strong advice to President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), to take responsibility for the killing of unarmed #ENDSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos State on Tuesday night.

The opposition party made the call in a statement on Wednesday by its Spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan.

Ologbondiyan said: “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) charges the Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to take responsibility for the shooting and reported killing of peaceful and unarmed young protesters by military operatives at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on Tuesday night.”

Nigerian soldiers were said to have opened fire on the protesters who, who were against police brutality, especially by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad.

The protests, which have been going on for over 11 days, continued on Tuesday night against the 24-hour curfew imposed on the state by Govenor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, due to the burning down of a police station and the destruction to other facilities in the state.

Though, there is no official confirmation of the number of those killed, reports said over 40 persons were killed.

Ologbondiyan said the call was because Buhari sat as the Commander in Chief of the armed forces and the “buck stops on his table.”

He said the PDP was shocked at the president’s stance and what he referred to as “his inability to demonstrate the capacity for concerned, attentive and proactive governance and command structure, while the nation he presides over dangerously slides into anarchy.”

THE WHISTLER observes that since the protests for the #Endsars movement commenced, the president has yet to physically address the nation.

Though, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad Unit (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force was disbanded by the Inspector General of police, Mohammed Adamu and another unit, SWAT, was set up, the protesters said the new unit was not welcomed.

The protest against the unit was due to allegations of constant brutality, harassment and extra-judicial killings by the squad. 

According to Ologbondiyan ,”a well structured governance response from Mr. President, as the father of the nation, would have calmed frayed nerves and averted the crisis,  violence, deaths, destruction of property and the avoidable loses we are witnessing today.”

The PDP spokesman also lamented and accused Buhari of collapsing “our once united, viable, resilient and cohesive nation handed over to President Buhari in 2015.”

He continued: “In countries where presidents are alive to the demands of their offices, the country would not be in turmoil with citizens being murdered in cold blood as witnessed in our country in the last 48 hours, yet the citizenry cannot find their president or Prime Minister coming out personally to offer consolation, provide direction and give hope.

“Moreover, the video showing police vans and vehicles belonging to other security agencies bringing in and coordinating armed thugs to attack peaceful protesters in Abuja points to serious complicity in high places.

“The APC and its agents in government circles had kept mute over reports in the public space that they are behind the deployment of the armed thugs to infiltrate peaceful protests and perpetrate acts of violence so as to discredit the demonstration and justify their attacks on protesters; a development that had led to escalation of restiveness in various parts of our country.

“Furthermore, the unexplained dismantling of security cameras and lights at the Lekki Toll gate before military operatives opened fire on peaceful protesters, further points to high-level conspiracy against Nigerians.”

Ologbondiyan maintained that: “Such unleashing of terror against peaceful demonstrators exposes a dangerous recourse to barefaced brutality, violence and killing to suppress and subjugate the Nigerian people.

“Today, under the APC, our streets are stained with the blood of our promising young ones. Our highways have been turned into battlegrounds where thugs and security operatives mow down citizens and destroy property with reckless abandon.

“Painfully, every command structure that engenders good governance appears to have collapsed and life is gradually returning to the Hobbes “State of Nature” under a system that has gained notoriety for human rights abuse, killings and deploying of security operatives, thugs, vandals and bandits to assault Nigerians whenever they come out to demand for good governance. 

“Our party demands that President Buhari speaks out on the sorry state of our nation under his watch and command.

“His administration has assaulted the foundations of our nationhood and he should accept responsibility.

“The PDP condoles with the victims of this ugly situation foisted on the nation by the APC.

“Nevertheless, our party restates our belief in a stable, united and indivisible Nigeria and urge all compatriots not to allow the misrule of the APC to divide or make them lose faith in our nation.

“The PDP will take necessary steps allowed within our laws and the internationals treaties and laws to protect our citizens and democratic order.”