A Coalition of 100 civil society organisations (CSOs), yesterday, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately sack the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.- Gen. Tukur Buratai, over the killing of unarmed protesters on Tuesday evening at Lekki tollgate in Lagos.
The group also urged the Nigerian leader to instantly suspend the military’s recently launched Operation Crocodile Smile, just as it urged soldiers to employ a
non-kinetic approach for protesters.
Reacting to ongoing developments in the country, triggered by the attacks, the coalition, in a statement in Abuja, equally tasked the President to fire the other
service chiefs and constitute an independent commission of inquiry to unravel the perpetrators and bring them to book.
Sign by Prof. Ibrahim Alkali of the Coalition Against Injustice in Africa; Dr Hassan Baba Khalid for Centre on Equity and Human Rights Africa, Prof. P. O. Okeke for
Action Against Bad Governance, Mr Kolawole Adesina for Citizens Watch Forum and Rev. (Dr.) Paul Kaigama for Centre for Peace and Good Governance, on behalf of others, the statement regretted that a peaceful protest meant to draw the attention of authorities to take action on certain faultlines in governance was hijacked by some unscrupulous elements to feather their selfish interests.
The CSOs said: “The launch of Operation Crocodile Smile by the Nigerian Army and subsequent use of kinetic approach in engaging the protesters by men of the
Nigerian Army was the most reprehensible. “It is unfortunate that this action, which is not acceptable in any form in a civil society, regrettably, resulted in the killing of armless protesters at Lekki tollgate, Lagos. This ugly development, no doubt, has inflamed passion among the people, and thus escalated tension in all
parts of the country at the moment.”
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