Apologise to Nigerians over comment on Lekki shootings, Rep tells Malami

By Tony Akowe, Abuja

A member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Tajudeen Yusuf (PDP, Kogi) has taken a swipe at the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami over his comment on the alleged killing of protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate during the #EndSars Protest.

Yusuf said in a statement in Abuja that the Minister should apologise to Nigerians for saying that hoodlums dressed in military fatigues were responsible for the shooting of protesters at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos State.

The Kogi lawmaker also ask the government to immediately reverse its “missteps” of freezing bank accounts of suspected sponsors of the #EndSars Protest, as well as seizing of international passports of Nigerian youths considered to have actively taken part in the nationwide protest against policy brutality.

He said while there are lessons to learnt from both the protesters and the government, the nation deserve a national apology from the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami’s over his statement that “hoodlum in military fatigues shot at protesters”

Read Also: #EndSARS protesters reveal 22 alleged Lekki shootings victims

According to him, “it is thoroughly confounding that in spite of the Federal Government promise to look into the demands of the protesters, government went to great lengths with actions and words that aroused real doubts over its sincerity.

“The Federal Government asked them to calm down and they did so, only for the Federal Government to embark upon series of arrests, passport seizure and freezing of bank accounts of the #EndSARS protesters.

“While right thinking citizens feel concerned about the real possibilities of driving the democratic expression of dissenting opinions into the threatening catacombs of underground activities, the Federal Government must advice itself against further deliberate mis-steps.”