Buhari’s #EndSARS Speech Gets A Thumbs Down From Reps Minority Caucus

The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has berated the Thursday speech by President Muhammadu Buhari on the protest across the country.

The lawmaker said that the address did not meet the expectation of most Nigerians.

BIGPEN reports President Buhari had on Thursday asked Nigerian youths to end their two-week-long protest and engage with the government to find solutions to the issues they raised.

He, however, warned that the government’s quick response to the five demands initially made by the protesters was misconstrued for weakness.

According to him, “as a democratic government, we listened to, and carefully evaluated the five-point demands of the protesters. And, having accepted them, we immediately scrapped SARS, and put measures in place to address the other demands of our youth,”.

“Sadly, the promptness with which we have acted seemed to have been misconstrued as a sign of weakness and twisted by some for their selfish unpatriotic interests,” Buhari said in the speech, the first by him since the protest erupted in Lagos and spread throughout the country.

Reports say the protests reached their climax on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 night, when men dressed in Army uniform opened fire on protesters at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. There have been reports that some of the protesters were killed and others wounded, although the Nigerian Army has said that its officers and men were not at the Tollgate that night.

Buhari, in his speech said; “The result of this is clear to all observers: human lives have been lost; acts of sexual violence have been reported; two major correctional facilities were attacked and convicts freed; public and private properties completely destroyed or vandalised; the sanctity of the Palace of a Peace Maker, the Oba of Lagos has been violated. So-called protesters have invaded an International Airport and in the process disrupted the travel plans of fellow Nigerians and our visitors,” he said.

However, in a statement on Friday signed by the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, the Caucus said, “As representatives of the people, our caucus is particularly surprised that Mr. President’s speech did not find a space to address the killing of innocent and unarmed Nigerian youths at the Lekki Toll gate; the very development that sparked off violent restiveness across the nation and consequent widespread demand for a presidential address.

Hon. Elumelu said that minority caucus expected that the address by the President should come with some empathy for victims of the killings and other acts of brutality by unscrupulous security operatives, particularly at this time when soothing words from the President would have gone a long way to calm frayed nerves.

The Caucus said the expectation across Nigeria was for Mr. President to reassure Nigerians, especially the youths by forcefully condemning the killing and brutalization of young ones, announcing an accelerated independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the gruesome acts and setting a clear pathway for the much-needed overhaul of our security system.

According to the Federal Lawmakers, “the much desired national healing, peace, unity and stability of our nation anchor on such show of concern and commitment by leaders.

“As lawmakers, our caucus therefore urges President Buhari, as the father of the nation, to take further steps to realign with the expectations of the people and reassure the nation by immediately setting up an independent inquiry into these killings with a view to prosecuting and bringing the perpetrators to book.

“This is in addition to an inquiry into videos and reports that unscrupulous security operatives mobilized thugs to attack peaceful protesters and unleash violence on innocent Nigerians.

“Those behind such shameful act that escalated sectional hostilities and pitched citizens against one another should be brought to book.”

While urging President Buhari to urgently rejig the nation’s security architecture by replacing his service chiefs with more competent and professional hands to assist in effectively handling the security challenges confronting the nation, the Minority Caucus further insist on him to take urgent steps to accelerate action on his economic reforms so as to provide ample opportunities for youths to gainfully participate in the Country’s productive sectors and ameliorate the hardship, hunger and frustration in the land.

“The Minority caucus notes that history beckons and that the unity, stability, peaceful co-existence and general wellbeing of citizens in our country should be paramount at this point in our national life.

“Our caucus again, we commiserates with the families of the victims of this unfortunate development, while suing for calm across the country and urging for a collective action that will engender a united and peaceful Nigeria for the good of all,” Elumelu stated in the statement.