Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has condemned the use of brute force to quell protests at the Lekki tollgate . He added that it was obvious that President Muhammadu Buhari and his lieutenants didn ’ t exhaust all avenues before deploying soldiers.
Obasanjo said this in a statement titled, ‘ Statement on Violence Against Protesters In Nigeria : An Appeal for Calm’ .
The former President called on Buhari to “ restrain the military and other security agencies from using brute force as a way of ending the crisis . ”
He said history had shown that killing protesters only worsens the crisis and makes dialogue impossible.
The former President said , “ The shooting and murder of unarmed protesters , no matter the level of provocation , has never been effective in suppressing public anger and frustration . Instead, such actions only reinforce the anger and frustration of the populace and close the window of dialogue and peaceful resolution.
“ It is clear that Mr President and his lieutenants did not exhaust the opportunities for dialogue with the protesters before resorting to the use of force. ”
Obasanjo said it was worse that despite overwhelming evidence , the authorities were still denying ever killing protesters .
He therefore called on the President to take swift action before things spiral out of control.
The former President stated , “ It is worse that there is a denial of wrongdoing in spite of overwhelming visual evidence . Great harm has been done but it can be stopped before it completely spirals out of control.
“ We are at a critical moment in this crisis and the President must act now before it is too late . This time demands leadership and mature leadership at such . ”
He said most of the demands made by the #EndSARS protesters which had been conveyed to the President by Governor Babajide Sanwo – Olu of Lagos State were not unrealistic.
Obasanjo added that these demands could be implemented without anyone’ s political interest or ambition being threatened.
The former President said , “ It is imperative that leaders at all levels , starting with Mr President , must demonstrate meekness, humanity and sincerity in meeting the legitimate demands of the protesters and ensuring that justice is served where it must be served . These are the potent ways of ending this crisis now . ”
The former President also called on the youths to give peace a chance , adding that the destruction and looting must stop.
He said targeting people would only widen the existing divisions in the country .
Obasanjo said , “ The youth must give peace a chance while making their legitimate demands . They must be mindful of miscreants who will infiltrate their ranks and give the protests a bad name so that trigger -happy forces will kill them .
“ The destruction and looting of public and private properties will only hurt all of us and set us back . ”
