EndSARS protesters now courting Nigerian Army –Keyamo
Festus Keyamo, minister of labour and productivity, says youth protesters who opposed the Nigerian Army’s intervention during the 2020 nationwide demonstrations against police brutality are now urging it to take over power. The army attracted local and international opprobrium for shooting at defenceless protesters camped at the Admiralty Plaza, Lekki. A general, Ibrahim Taiwo, would subsequently testified before a panel of inquiry that the soldiers shot blunt bullets. Referencing the incident, Keyamo described the turnabout in favour of the army as “hypocrisy”.
The minister, who doubled as spokesperson for the ruling party’s campaign council during the electioneering, made the statement in the wake of the calls for military intervention by opposition supporters disputing the outcome of the presidential election.
He said, “Those who consistently cried wolf that the Army shot protesters at Lekki toll gate (they argued that the Army has no business in civil matters) recently matched to Army Headquarters in Abuja and did the ENDSARS salute and song calling on the Army to intervene and ‘save our democracy’! Wonders of hypocrisy shall never end!
TheCornet reports that the electoral umpire had declared Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress campaign as the winner of the presidential race.
However, opposition candidates and their supporters claim the election was fraudulent and are asking for a revote. Supporters of Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democractic Party had led series of protests following the outcomes of the election.
Peter Obi, the flag bearer of the Labour Party believes he won the poll and currently challenging the results at the presidential tribunal. His supporters, tagged ‘Obidient movement–comprising largely of youths–have continued to push for the poll to either be cancelled or their candidate declared the winner. Some of his supporters could be seen in a recent video at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, urging a military take over.
