#EndSARS: Lawmakers urge peace, condemn killing of protesters
By EricJames Ochigbo
Abuja, The Lagos state caucus in the House of Representatives has urged the #EndSARS protesters to support the Government restore peace in the state.
The leader of the caucus, Rep. Dolapo Badru, made the call while addressing newsmen on Thursday in Abuja.
He said that government was already attending to the demands put forward by the youth, urging them to stop the protest as it was being hijacked by hoodlums.
“We urge the youth that as their legitimate requests are being attended to, they should support the Governor to restore peace in the State.
“We, therefore, appeal to the youth to stop all protests because their actions have been hijacked by others with premeditated agenda using social media to misrepresent and spread fake news to incite violence, looting, vandalism of private and public assets.
“We condemn in its entirety the attacks on our critical infrastructure; as at today over 100 buses, fire stations, council secretariat, ambulances, fire-fighting vehicles and banks have been reportedly burnt and private shops/stores looted.
“We also condemn in very strong terms the invasion of the palace of the Oba of Lagos as we view this as an attack on our heritage and a sacrilege,” he said.
He said that the caucus had monitored happenings in the last two weeks and aligned with the concerns and agitation for good governance.
According to him, issues raised by the youth have been extensively discussed at plenary session and we align with the position of the House of Representatives on compensation for victims.
In a related development, Rep. Uzoma Nkem-Abonta, member representing Ukwa East/Ukwa West Federal Constituency has called on the Nigerian Army and security operatives to stop killing the future of Nigeria.
Nkem-Abonta, made the call while reacting to the alleged killing of protesters by soldiers at the Lekki Tollgate Plaza in Lagos State on Tuesday night.
The rep said that the future of Nigeria is the youth of the country saying that they must be protected.
He described the incident as regrettable and called on the Federal Government to do everything possible to make sure that those who perpetrated the killing be made to account for their actions.
“The youth are protesting because they are choked up to the neck and are frustrated by the government.
“No jobs, no facilities; the attitude of the government, which comes as bad governance, has caused a lot of issues.
“Therefore, it is their constitutional right to express their frustration in a form of peaceful demonstration and that is what they have done,” he said.
Nkem-Abonta said it is highly condemnable and regrettably the killing of unarmed youths, who were merely saying end bad governance.
He said that although sponsored hoodlums joined that to make it look violent, such killing remained condemnable as the youth were not combatants. (NAN)
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