The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) has condemned the shooting of #ENDSARS protesters at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos by security forces wearing military camouflage.
Publicity Secretary of OPC, Mr. Yinka Oguntimehin, equally condemned attacks on public and private properties by some hoodlums in Lagos and some other parts of the country.
In a statement issued today, the OPC cautioned hoodlums and miscreants, engaging in looting, destruction and razing of public property under the disguise of #EndSARS protest not to turn the South-West into war theatres.
The OPC on Thursday in Lagos described the alleged killing of protesters by soldiers as barbaric and an attempt to cow the people from expressing their views against the government.
The group, however, condemned the activities of some hoodlums that had used the peaceful protest to destroy public utilities and properties.
#ENDSARS protesters were shot at in Lekki on Tuesday by security operatives leading to loss of unspecified number of lives and injuries to many who were rushed to various hospitals in Lagos.
The Army has however denied involvement in the shooting, saying that the videos of the shooting were photocropped.
The OPC publicity secretary remarked that “It was obvious that some enemies of the people of South-West have decided to use the peaceful protests to unleash terror in the region. How could a peaceful protest turn bloody overnight. We have never had it so bad like this in this country, except during the military government of late Sani Abacha that Nigeria was thrown into tis kind of terror and killings”.
Oguntimehin added that “Those that were killed in the course of this peaceful protest still remain our heroes even in death”.
Oguntimehin said the Federal Government should have actd on the legitimate demands of the protesters in good time to forestall its escalation into violence and destruction of property by irate hoodlums.
The OPC publicity Secretary will commiserating with the families of the fallen heroes, saluted the courage of the genuine Nigeria youths for raising their voices against police brutality resulting from bad governance.
He added: “We need to appreciate the courage and consistency of the Nigerian youths who have demonstrated the need for complete reform of the ailing system.
“It is historic that the youths have risen to the occasion by raising their voices against police brutality resulting from bad government using the prolonged protest to put the government on its toes”.
According to Oguntimehin, the are Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Chief Gani Adams, had twice within the week, urged the protesters to be peaceful, advising the Federal Government not to use the Army to quell the protests.
Oguntimehin alleged that the Federal Government ignored the counsel of Adams not to use force to quell the agitations because of the possible violence such action could bring.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the #EndSARS protests in Lagos took another dimension on Tuesday evening when soldiers allegedly shot protester defying curfew at Lekki Toll Gate.
This incident probably led to widespread violence in Lagos as suspected hoodlums vandalized and torched a number of public and private properties including the Nigeria Ports Authority, Television Continental (TVC), among others.