IYANDA'SBLOG

10/26/20

Covid: Protests erupt across Italy over anti-virus measures

Again, UK Expresses Concern Over Violence In Nigeria, Urges Security Services To Use Restraint, Investigate Lekki Killings

A police officer kicks a protester detained in Lagos on 21 October

The United Kingdom through the British High Commission in Nigeria has expressed concern over violence and looting in Nigeria.

Thugs, who hijacked peaceful #EndSARS protest against police brutality in the country, have operated unhindered, destroying private businesses in the country.

A police officer kicks a protester detained in Lagos on 21 October AP/Independent

The UK in a tweet on Monday night called for security operatives in Nigeria to use restraint until calm was restored to prevent an escalation of the situation while also calling for an investigation into the killing of unarmed peaceful protesters by the Nigerian Army at the Lekki Toll Gate area on October 20.

The tweet reads, “We remain concerned by acts of looting and violence in Nigeria and urge security services to use restraint as order is restored.

“Working with all stakeholders, judicial panels of inquiry must investigate all incidents, including Lekki and ensure accountability for crimes. #EndPoliceBrutality.”

We remain concerned by acts of looting & violence in ðŸ‡³ðŸ‡¬ & urge security services use restraint as order is restored. Working with all stakeholders, judicial panels of inquiry must investigate all incidents, including #Lekki, & ensure accountability for crimes. #EndPoliceBrutality
— UK in NigeriaðŸ‡¬ðŸ‡§ (@UKinNigeria) October 26, 2020

Djab Wurrung tree: Anger over sacred Aboriginal tree bulldozed for highway

BREAKING: Nigerian Soldiers Kill Two Persons In Osun

Two persons have allegedly been killed by operatives of the Nigerian Army in Ikire, the headquarters of Irewole Local Government Area of Osun State.

SaharaReporters gathered that trouble started when some youth, calling for the removal of Akire of Ikire, Oba Olatunde Falabi (Lambeloye III), stormed the palace and drove the monarch out of the place.

The protesters were relying on the Supreme Court judgment of 2014 that it was not the turn of the Falabi’s ruling house to produce the Akire and also a similar judgment by the state high court in few months ago.

Efforts by men of the Nigerian Army to disperse the irate youth and bring normalcy to the town created more tension as they started shooting sporadically.

The youth in return started hurling stones at the soldiers and ambushed them after, which they snatched their rifles.

A resident of the area told SaharaReporters that failure of the youth to return the rifles made the soldiers to call for reinforcement in the process, which at least two residents of the town were killed.

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#EndSARS: Ondo Police Arrest 10 Persons Over Damages on Public, Private Properties

The police in Ondo State have arrested a total of 10 persons in connection with various destruction of public and private properties in the state.

The criminal act followed days of protest to end police brutality in the state.

Bolaji Salami, Commissioner of Police in the state, who disclosed this to SaharaReporters on Monday, said many of the suspects were thugs arrested at the scene of the incident.

He added that those apprehended by the police were not protesters.

According to him, the police arrested the criminal elements, who had hijacked the peaceful protest and turned it into an avenue to loot and set fire to public properties.

Bolaji said, "Those arrested have confessed to what they have done and proper investigation is now being carried out on the cases.

"Although, those we arrested are not the ones who were demonstrating on the streets but criminal elements who hijacked the peaceful protest earlier started by the youth.

"So, we didn't arrest any protester but the ones in our custody are those who use the opportunity to cause trouble and violence by turning it into arson and other criminal acts.

"By the time we conclude our investigations, they would all be charge to court and made to face the consequences of their action in due time."

Some miscreants had hijacked the #EndSARS protest in Akure, Ondo, Okitipupa and Owo areas of the state and destroyed both public and private properties.

The properties destroyed and burnt down by the thugs in the state includes- the secretariats of APC and PDP, Nigerian Correctional Centre, magistrate court, police stations and buses.

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Nigerian Lady Arrested For Allegedly Killing Boyfriend In India

India Police

The police in India have arrested a Nigerian woman, Oge Florence, over the death of her boyfriend and fellow Nigerian identified as Obinna.

Oge on Sunday afternoon allegedly stabbed Obinna during a quarrel inside their house.

India Police

He died of excessive bleeding after he was rushed to a nearby hospital.

It was gathered that the pair were known to quarrel often and the deceased had in the past drank a poisonous substance because of the lady.

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Kwara Police Arrest 144 Persons Over Looting Of Malls

The Kwara State Police Command has arrested 144 persons suspected to be connected with the vandalisation and looting of malls in the state.

The thugs, who went on the rampage during the weekend, invaded stores of traders in Palms Mall on Fate Road, Ilorin, the state capital, and made-away with items like phones, chairs, generators, toiletries and food items.

The Commissioner of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, while speaking with journalists, noted that the arrest was made by a combined team of security agencies, who went after the looters.

He said some of the looted items had been recovered, noting that it would be a continuous exercise to recover more items from suspected persons.

The police urged the public to continue to avail information that will lead to the arrest of more looters.

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NLC Condemns Hoarding Of COVID-19 Palliatives, Demands Immediate Distribution To Reduce Hardship

The Nigeria Labour Congress has condemned the hoarding of COVID-19 palliatives by some state governments in the country.

This is as the NLC called for the distribution of all palliatives still stored in different warehouses across the country.

In recent days, residents of states like Lagos, Ogun, Plateau and Edo have been discovering and looting foodstuffs hoarded in COVID-19 warehouses.

Berating the action of the state government to hoard the palliatives rather than distribute it, the NLC in a statement urged the Nigerian Government to investigate the conduct of those hoarding the palliatives.

It also said that some hoarded palliatives were getting rotten while hunger and hardship was growing in the country.

The statement reads, “It is obvious that the palliative provisions that were procured by government for immediate distribution to the mass of our people at their critical time of need and to assuage the hardship occasioned by the lockdown were hoarded and held back by some government officials.

“The reasons for this have not been made known to the public. We also understand that many of the palliative provisions are already getting rotten in the warehouses where they were stored.

“While we condemn the ensuing mass looting of both the COVID-19 palliatives and non-COVID-19 palliative materials, we equally deplore the conduct of some government officials who stored away relief materials that should have been distributed to the masses of our people at their very trying times of need.

“In order to forestall riotous plundering of the remaining relief palliatives, the Nigeria Labour Congress demands that the Federal Government should order the immediate release of all the welfare provisions and materials to citizens."

In reaction to the condemnation that had followed the sudden discovery of palliatives, the Nigeria Governors' Forum defended itself, saying the recent cache of palliatives discovered by citizens in warehouses across the country was kept in anticipation of a second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country.

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Killing: After Initial Denial, Nigerian Army Says Officers Were Ensuring Curfew Compliance At Lekki During Incident

After initial denial by the Nigerian Army that its officers were not at Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos, where peaceful protesters were shot and killed last Tuesday, the military has come out to say its officers were only ensuring compliance with a curfew put in place by Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, earlier that day.

Soldiers killed over 10 peaceful demonstrators and left scores more injured.

The Nigerian Army has now said its officers were simply ensuring compliance with the curfew put in place in Lagos State.

In a statement credited to the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, the Acting Director of Army Public Relations, Sagir Musa, said some people were trying to discredit the military and Nigerian Government.

Though Musa did not make direct reference to Tuesday killings at Lekki, he said, "Detractors both local and international have mischievously and deliberately misrepresented troops’ efforts to ensure compliance with the curfew imposed by legitimate civil authorities in Lagos and other states.

“These agitators are falsely accusing the NA of being responsible for the activities of the miscreants despite glaring evidence to the contrary.”

He also decried that the detractors are threatening to report the Nigerian Army to the International Criminal Court and also impose a visa ban on them from foreign countries.

“Criminal elements are threatening us with travel ban but we are not worried because we must remain in this country to make it better.

“The first time I travelled outside this country, I was already 50 years and a general, so I don’t mind if I live the rest of my life here,” Buratai said.

SaharaReporters had revealed that the soldiers involved in the attack on peaceful protesters were deployed from 65 Battalion, Bonny Camp, Victoria Island, Lagos.

“They came in two Hilux vans with at least eight bodies. Some were still alive when they returned. They dumped them at MRS Hospital. They told us clearly that it was Governor Sanwo-Olu that sent them,” a brother to one of the victims told SaharaReporters.

Contrary to the denial by the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-olu, that he knew nothing about the killing and maiming of peaceful #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate area of the state by personnel of the Nigerian Army, soldiers involved in the operation have since confirmed that they were actually drafted in for the mission on the request of the governor.

#LekkiMassacre: How President Buhari, Army And Lagos Government Connived To Kill Peaceful Protesters WATCH VIDEO: #LekkiMassacre: How President Buhari, Army And Lagos Government Connived To Kill Peaceful Protesters #EndSARS Human Rights Military News AddThis : Featured Image :

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Killing: After Initial Denial, Nigerian Army Says Officers Were Ensuring Curfew Compliance At Lekki During Incident

Soldiers killed over 10 peaceful demonstrators and left scores more injured.

The Nigerian Army has now said its officers were simply ensuring compliance with the curfew put in place in Lagos State.

“These agitators are falsely accusing the NA of being responsible for the activities of the miscreants despite glaring evidence to the contrary.”

He also decried that the detractors are threatening to report the Nigerian Army to the International Criminal Court and also impose a visa ban on them from foreign countries.

“Criminal elements are threatening us with travel ban but we are not worried because we must remain in this country to make it better.

“The first time I travelled outside this country, I was already 50 years and a general, so I don’t mind if I live the rest of my life here,” Buratai said.

SaharaReporters had revealed that the soldiers involved in the attack on peaceful protesters were deployed from 65 Battalion, Bonny Camp, Victoria Island, Lagos.

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Man Starves, Chains 10-year-old Son For 18 Months In Akwa Ibom

A group, Child's Right and Rehabilitation Network, has rescued a 10-year-old boy identified as Ekemini, who was brutalised and shackled by his father and stepmother for 18 months.

It was gathered that most times, Ekemini would be forgotten and without food and water for days.

His dad and stepmother had accused him of being possessed by demons.

Head of the CRARN, Sam Ikpe Utauma, in a statement narrated how the victim was constantly tortured, starved and subjected to various inhuman treatment.

He said, “The Child’s Rights and Rehabilitation Network is working with the police in Eket to unravel the probable cause of a father frequently tying up and manhandling his ten year old son in Ikot Udota, Eket, Akwa Ibom State.

"Little Ekemini has had a rough time with his father and stepmother in the family home for the past eighteen months. His situation took a turn for the worst the last eight months when his father began to tie and shackle him then drop him in the backyard sometime without food, persistent beatings and viciously manhandling him.

"His appalling condition caught the attention of a CRARN volunteer through a tip-off, and the police was alerted which led to the father’s arrest, unshackling and rescue of the young lad.

"The members of the community quickly rushed and bailed out the man who didn’t deny his act of brutality on his child but merely boasted that he has the right to treat his child as his he wished.

"Ekemini has complained bitterly about the unrelenting abuse and battering he endures in his family and says he fears for his life.

"While condemning this reprehensible act of brutality against this child, we will be following up with the situation to ensure that the child is safe and out of harm’s way."

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Man Starves, Chains 10-year-old Son For 18 Months In Akwa Ibom

A group, Child's Right and Rehabilitation Network, has rescued a 10-year-old boy identified as Ekemini, who was brutalised and shackled by his father and stepmother for 18 months.

It was gathered that most times, Ekemini would be forgotten and without food and water for days.

His dad and stepmother had accused him of being possessed by demons.

Head of the CRARN, Sam Ikpe Utauma, in a statement narrated how the victim was constantly tortured, starved and subjected to various inhuman treatment.

"While condemning this reprehensible act of brutality against this child, we will be following up with the situation to ensure that the child is safe and out of harm’s way."

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#EndSARS: The Anatomy Of A Speech — And Of State Terrorism By Dr Abayomi Ogunsanya

Abayomi Ogunsanya

On the morning of Friday 23, 2020, two weeks after civil protests, under the banner of #EndSARS, began in Nigeria, I woke up to a WhatsApp message from one of my former students who asks, after making a few comments on President Muhammadu Buhari’s uninspiring broadcast the previous evening, ‘What next, sir?’ The question was rhetorical.

It also conveyed a deep sense of loss and despair that is shared by many who had listened to the President’s speech—a speech that was made rather grudgingly, prompted—or forced—by the insistence of citizens and imminent personalities from around the world. A speech that inspired no hope. It was, in the opinion of many commentators, a speech that left most people speechless. Coming after the largely peaceful #EndSARS protests had been infiltrated and allowed to snowball into mindless violence in many cities, and following the shooting of unarmed protesters in Lekki, Lagos, the speech will not be remembered, like many others before it, because it lacks substance and fails to sooth overwrought nerves and comfort everyone that is distraught with grief. But it is a speech that provides a useful starting point for any critical reflection on state terrorism, with respect to Nigeria, and why Nigerian government should be held responsible for the wanton acts of violence being unleashed following the disbandment of genuine #EndSARS protests.

First, it was, as stated earlier, a speech that was practically wrung from the President, whose morbid silence, in the face of national unrest and provocations, had become rather customary. Like a few other speeches in the past, the President’s latest speech was also pre-recorded, fuelling the speculation, rife in certain quarters, that the president is often propped up to make such speeches because he has become insentient and incapable of mustering up the physical and mental strength to fully discharge his duties and responsibilities as president. It is hard not to think there could be some truth in this supposition if one considers how long it took the President to make—read read—his speech and the vapidly uninspiring manner the said speech was delivered.

Abayomi Ogunsanya

Second, the speech has been criticised not only for failing to inspire hope but also for failing to address one of the key moments in the #EndSARS protests—the moment when unarmed protesters were hemmed in and shot at by the military at Lekki Toll Gate. It is important to relive the horrors of that moment here and query why the President refused to address it for two important reasons. First, it was a momentous event—Nigeria’s Tienanmen moment, so to speak, because it was at that moment that the Nigerian government finally announced itself as unabashedly a government of occupation, one that is bloodthirsty and has no qualms murdering her citizens. Before government forces carried out the attack, protesters had been at the Toll Gate for many days, keeping a vigil, and not a single report of disorderliness or violence was reported. On Tuesday, hours before the protesters were set upon, Lagos State Government had announced a 24-hour curfew which was expected to come into effect from 4pm that day. The curfew was necessitated, according to the government, by escalation of the violence being committed by ‘hoodlums’ across the state, and it was in the interest of protesters themselves and the general public that a curfew was declared. Protesters at Lekki had little time to leave the protest ground, even if they wanted, and many did not want to leave anyway, having been roused to fever pitch by the announcement and their spirits buoyed up by the constant stream of support from online protesters who continued to trend the protest hashtags. According to many incontrovertible eye-witnesses and amateur videos shared on social media, shortly before soldiers began firing at protesters, CCTV cameras at the venue were removed and electricity switched off just as darkness began to fall. Under the cover of darkness and while protesters were singing the national anthem, a detachment of armed military personnel which had been deployed to the venue that afternoon began firing as protesters sat on the floor. There was instant bedlam. Later that night, the Toll Gate was set on fire. The number of people who died or got injured in the aftermath of the violent enactment is still being disputed, but what should be highlighted, in the context of the President’s speech, is the president’s failure to acknowledge the incident—not even as a mere footnote in the speech.

And this leads us to the second reason why it is important to recount what actually happened on that night at Lekki Toll Gate. It is often the case in Nigeria—and elsewhere—that government would often issue official denials of responsibility for attacks or even outright repudiation of the facts in the wake of horrendous acts of violence as witnessed in Lekki. It is also the case that government may never acknowledge that the incident ever happened. One recent example, in Nigeria, was the army’s denial of massacre when over three hundred Shi’a Muslims were killed in Zaria, in December 2015, even after a Judicial Panel of Enquiry and Amnesty International—among other human rights organisations—had provided conclusive evidence to the effect that the incident happened and was of the scale of a genocide. What is significant, in light of our reflection, is that Nigeria’s president has never spoken about or given the matter the seriousness that it deserves, even as members of the sect have continued to be the target of rabidly genocidal attacks by Nigerian security operatives. Given this precedent, it did not come as a surprise that, the following day after the shootings in Lekki, the Lagos State Governor denied that his government ordered the crackdown on the protesters and that preliminary investigation suggested that no one had been killed during the incident. Less surprising too was Nigerian army’s rejection of reports that its officers were responsible for shooting unarmed protesters at Lekki Toll Gate. Many Nigerians were shocked at these barefaced denials which were made in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary and despite several eye-witnesses confirming that they had seen dead bodies during and after the shootings and that the shootings were carried out by the army. Nigerian artist, DJ Switch, who was present when the soldiers opened fire on the protesters and who made a live broadcast of the incident before her phone died, has also narrated how armed soldiers and police officers shot at her and other protesters and how she counted not less than fifteen dead bodies after the mayhem. She explained that she and a handful of other survivors took the victims’ bodies to the soldiers who took them away.

The blank denial by Lagos State Government that no protestors were killed and President Muhammadu Buhari’s refusal to acknowledge that, under his watch and command, peaceful protesters were shot at, are textbook examples of how repressive regimes and governments of occupation normally behave in tragic circumstances that are enacted by themselves and in which they are the culpable actors. They would do whatever is necessary to rewrite the narrative using various subterfuge and political sleight of hand, and unless citizens are alert to their wiles, the public would find itself in a position in which it is unable to distinguish between the true version of the story and the false one that government apologists and spin doctors had created and consecrated in newspapers and other media outlets.

The President’s speech has also been criticised for showing very little sympathy and virtually no empathy for protesters who were on the receiving end of violence and the many people who have died or lost loved ones. Instead, the speech dwells on what ‘those who have hijacked and misdirected the initial’ protests had been doing, which includes killing others, committing acts of sexual violence, carrying out jailbreaks, causing the destruction of public and private properties, and their violation of ‘the Palace of a Peace Maker, the Oba of Lagos.’ The president blamed ‘so-called protesters’ for these acts of violence. These ‘so-called’ protesters, also variously called ‘hoodlums,’ ‘hooligans’ and ‘thugs’ by people who have sought to distinguish ‘genuine protesters’ from these ‘miscreants,’ are said to have ‘hijacked’ the protest and misdirected it for ‘selfish’ and ‘unpatriotic reasons.’

It is important to comment on this aspect of the President’s speech for what it says (or fails to say) about the unintended consequences of using crude violence against peaceful protesters while attempting to discredit genuine agitation and demonize peaceful demonstrators. It should be clear to anyone of good faith that the #EndSars protest is an ennobling civic movement that had been conducted within the bounds of propriety and goodwill until it was ‘hijacked’ by criminal elements. Protesters had protested for over a week with not a single recorded incidence of criminality or disorderliness until they were suddenly set upon by thugs and miscreants, first at locations in Abuja and later in Lagos, before things finally started to get out of hand. Many had predicted this pattern, and many had feared that this could happen, but what a few never imagined was that government would be responsible for sowing the seeds of violence. Well verified videos have emerged showing very clearly that the ‘so-called protesters’ referred to in the President’s speech were government sponsored thugs and hooligans. They were unleashed on peaceful protesters and they, and their sponsors, are responsible for the current mayhem. We have seen videos of how some of them were conveyed in SUVs and led by suit-wearing government functionaries and politicians, and we have also heard the confessions of a few that were apprehended and how they admitted to being sponsored. Through Machiavellian manipulation, the government had sought to muddy the waters by using these sponsored thugs to discredit and derail genuine calls for reform and change. These thugs are always readily available; they are part of the waifs and strays of our society—the homeless, the jobless, the uneducated. They were created and have been nurtured on a steady diet of physical and existential violence by successive governments and politicians since independence and have always been called upon and manipulated to do the biddings of their paymasters.

We see how they are called upon during elections to derail the process in favour of their paymasters. These hoodlums, thugs and hooligans have now become a Frankenstein monster beyond the control of the politicians who created and nurtured them. The mask has fallen off the faces of these monsters and they are consuming everything along their path. All the looting, all the arson, all the killings, and all the campaign of terror currently happening around the country cannot be blamed on #EndSars protesters. They are the logical consequences of social negligence that has been in the making since the dawn of our independence. They are part of the palpable indicators of both government’s failure to safeguard the weak and the result of a carefully nurtured category of social subjects created for the sole purpose of unleashing terror whenever needed.

As these monsters rampage through the land, threatening to consume even their creators and enablers if this season of anomie is allowed to continue unchecked, we must remember that the President and his government are the most culpable parties in the ongoing breakdown of law and order being witnessed in parts of the country. They are the people we should hold accountable—they unleashed these monsters and they must face the music.

Dr Ogunsanya, an anthropologist and public affairs analyst, writes from Dublin, Ireland.

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IPOB Directs Members To Resume Peaceful Protests On Monday

The outlawed Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) says its members across the country will resume peaceful protests from Monday, October 26, 2020, to ensure that all demands made by the leaders of the #ENDSARS movement were met in quick time.

The IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, in a statement on Sunday said that all necessary measures are being put in place to ensure that the lives of the protesters are protected.

He, however, said that the peaceful protest would be confined to designated locations and “there will be no procession or street march because marching on the streets will give room to mischief makers to breach public peace.”

He said the IPOB members would embark on cleaning up towns in Benin, Enugu, Aba, Abakaliki, Umuahia, Nnewi, Uyo, Calabar, Onitsha and Igweocha to clear the debris caused by last week’s violence.

He said: “Following the killings, destruction and burning of private properties occasioned by the brutal state-sanctioned, the murder of peaceful protesters at Lekki Toll Gate, brave youths across Biafraland would come out to commence the process of cleaning up and securing their towns and cities from hoodlums and criminal elements.

“This will afford young people in places like Benin, Enugu, Aba, Abakaliki, Umuahia, Nnewi, Uyo, Calabar, Onitsha and Igweocha the long-awaited opportunity to tidy up and clear the numerous mountains of rubbish in these cities which have become not only an eyesore but also a health hazard.

“Measures are also being put in place to protect the lives and property of innocent citizens from being attacked by rented hoodlums and political thugs. However, where necessary, assets acquired with looted public funds by corrupt politicians will remain a legitimate target.

“It is important to note that anybody found attacking or engaging in arson or wanton destruction of private property will be dealt with on the spot.

“Peaceful protests will commence after the clean-up but will only be confined to designated locations. There will be no procession or street march. Marching on the streets will not be tolerated as not to give room to mischief makers to breach public peace.

“We are, at this moment, issuing a warning that any hoodlum or rented thug found at the venue of any protest will be mercilessly dealt with by the people. We urge them to steer clear or better join us in the clean-up and peaceful gathering afterwards.

“Anybody found wandering near a bank or loitering with intent will be moved on. People will not be allowed to assemble near a bank or financial institution. No act capable of breaching the peace will be tolerated from Monday, October 26, 2020, onwards.

“Protests and gatherings will be held, but it must be peaceful and orderly. No criminality of any form will be condoned, either from hoodlums, hired thugs, the police or the army. Everybody must be well behaved.

“We hope that protests across Biafraland and Nigeria would continue until all demands made by the leaders of #EndSARS movement met in quick time.

“We urge all youths who have been intimidated into submission by security agencies, especially in Abuja, to return to the streets from October 26. We warn every thug belonging to criminal politicians and DSS hoodlums to steer clear of protest venues, or there will be a repeat of last week’s mayhem.”

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Lagos Massive Attacks, Plot To Weaken S’West Economy – Governors

Governors in the South-West have expressed shock at the large-scale destruction of private and public infrastructure in Lagos State, saying the attacks are beyond the #EndSARS protest.

While condemning the shooting of protesters at the Lekki toll gate, they stated that the “no definitive statement” of the military was worrisome.

They urged the youth to rise and “defend our land against diabolical incursion ravaging our space.”

The governors spoke on Sunday after touring some of the facilities burnt by hoodlums who hijacked the #EndSARS protest in the state.

The delegation, which also included ministers, commiserated with Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu after visiting some of the torched assets, including the Lagos High Court, the Nigeria Port Authority building and the state forensic lab.

The Chairman of the South-West Governors’ Forum and Ondo State Governor, Arakunrin Rotimi Akeredolu, likened Lagos to a war zone.

He said, “We are deeply concerned with the ease with which public buildings, utilities, police stations and investment of our people were burnt despite the proximity of security agencies in those areas. The development leaves us with no other option but to believe that there may be other reasons for continued protests, well-coordinated and funded.

“We are particularly worried that 48 hours after the unfortunate incident at the Lekki toll gate by persons adorning military outfit, there has been no definitive statement from the military authorities on the incident.

“Our anxiety becomes heightened by the categorical denial of the Governor of Lagos State concerning military deployment. No governor has powers to authorise the deployment of military personnel in Nigeria.”

Akeredolu said the regression into savagery exposed South-West’s vulnerability to manipulation by divisive elements bent on destroying the region’s economic prosperity and shared heritage.

The governors unanimously disowned the war-mongering rhetoric of a man, Adeyinka Grandson, in a video circulating on social media.

They urged the Yoruba and non-Yoruba residents in the South-West to disregard the threat of violence issued in the video, saying the “secessionist” had no authority to speak for the Yoruba.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr Babatunde Fashola, appealed to Lagos residents to support the government in unravelling the truth behind the violence in the state.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, who also visited Sanwo-Olu, promised that the National Assembly would do all within its power in rebuilding Lagos and other states affected by the violence.

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Friends Prevented Soldiers From Going Away With My Son’s Corpse In Lekki – Grieving Mother

The mother of one Anthony, who was among the #EndSARS protesters allegedly shot dead by soldiers at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos, is in grief over the circumstances surrounding her son’s death.

Soldiers had on Tuesday opened fire on the protesters, and no fewer than six persons were alleged to have been killed in the process.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who had initially declared that no death was recorded, later confirmed three casualties as against the huge figures quoted by eyewitnesses at the scene of the incident.

Footage of Anthony’s mother was reposted on Instagram, showing her chronicling the circumstances surrounding her son’s death at the Lekki tollgate.

She told Punch, “It has not been easy, I never knew that Anthony has so many friends like this. First of all, I want to thank his friends, who picked him up when he was shot; if it weren’t for his friends, maybe the soldiers who picked up other corpses would have picked him up and say nobody died. See Also #EndSARS Governor Sanwo-Olu Aware Of Plans By Soldiers From Bonny Camp To Attack, Kill Lekki Protesters 0 Comments 1 Day Ago

“Those children saw when Anthony was running with gunshot wounds; they stayed with him; some of them fell under vehicles; a lot of things went on.”

When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said, “I can’t react to the Lekki tollgate issue because there is a panel on that. The panel is in the best position to react to any issue that concerns the Lekki tollgate incident.” See Also #EndSARS REVEALED: Nigerian Soldiers Involved In Lekki Massacre Took Eight Bodies To Bonny Camp Clinic 0 Comments 9 Hours Ago

#EndSARS Human Rights Politics News AddThis : Original Author : SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements :
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Friends Prevented Soldiers From Going Away With My Son’s Corpse In Lekki – Grieving Mother

The mother of one Anthony, who was among the #EndSARS protesters allegedly shot dead by soldiers at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos, is in grief over the circumstances surrounding her son’s death.

Soldiers had on Tuesday opened fire on the protesters, and no fewer than six persons were alleged to have been killed in the process.

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who had initially declared that no death was recorded, later confirmed three casualties as against the huge figures quoted by eyewitnesses at the scene of the incident.

Footage of Anthony’s mother was reposted on Instagram, showing her chronicling the circumstances surrounding her son’s death at the Lekki tollgate.

“Those children saw when Anthony was running with gunshot wounds; they stayed with him; some of them fell under vehicles; a lot of things went on.”

#EndSARS Human Rights Politics News AddThis : Original Author : SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements :
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Friends Prevented Soldiers From Going Away With My Son’s Corpse In Lekki – Grieving Mother

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