The killing of peaceful #EndSARS protesters across the country on Tuesday drew strong condemnation on Wednesday by eminent Nigerians and international bodies. On Tuesday, violence escalated when soldiers and policemen, as well as hoodlums, killed fewer than 43 protesters. Six policemen also lost their lives in the crisis.Protests by youths seeking the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police, which began on 8 October, assumed a violent dimension last week when hoodlums and security agents started attacking protesters.
Commentators on the murders pacified the rule of President Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) To deploy armed security agents against unarmed protesters.
Condemning the killings, a prominent politician, Prof Wole Soyinka, called governors in states where protests were held demanding the withdrawal of troops deployed by the federal government.
Demanding withdrawal of troops, wole soyinka said army should apologize
The playwright made the call on Wednesday in a statement released from his residence in Ogun State. The title of this statement was, À Daju V – In Sad Vein. ‘
The Nobel laureate said, “For affected governors across the country, there is an urgent step to demand the withdrawal of those troops. Conduct town hall meetings as an urgency. The 24-hour curfew is not resolved. Handle the safety of your people with whatever resources you can make rumors. Community self-policing based on local councils to curb hooliganism and extortion and destructive opportunism. We are bereaved and request the State Governments to compensate for material losses wherever they are.
He also said that the army should apologize not only to the nation, but also to the global community – “The facts are indisputable – you, the army, opened fire on unarmed civilians.” There should be structured restoration and assurance that such aberrations will not be recorded again. “
On his part, former President Olusegun Obasanjo wrote an open letter to the President on the killings, urging him to act swiftly before it was too late.
Obasanjo accused Buhari and the military that he did not exhaust all options before using force against the protesters.
There is a lot of damage, but it can be stopped before the control can completely spiral, he said.
Blaming the president for killing the protesters in Lekki and other parts of the country, Obasanjo said the shooting of unarmed protesters was never effective in suppressing public anger.The former president, in a letter titled Violence Statement on Violence Against Protesters in Nigeria: Appeal for Peace, ‘he personally signed, urging Buhari to withdraw troops from the streets and engage protesters in dialogues .
He also said, Most of the demands of the protesting youth, which Lagos State Governor Babajide sanwo-Olu has swiftly taken to the President, are not unreasonable and can be met without anyone’s political interest or ambition.
Obasanjo advised the youth to refrain from violence, to give them a chance for peace and prevent them from destroying public property and targeting individuals.