The minority caucus of the House of Representatives has called on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to order the arrest and prosecution of soldiers who attacked #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate on Tuesday night.
The Minority Leader, Mr Ndudi Elumelu, in a statement issued on Wednesday, “strongly” condemned killing of “peaceful and unarmed” protesters by security operatives at Lekki Tollgate and other parts of the country.
The protesters were attacked by soldiers, who fired live ammunition at them after the Closed Circuit Television Cameras in the vicinity were reportedly removed and lights were turned off.
In the statement titled, ‘Reps Minority Condemns Killing of Protesters,’ the caucus said, “such wicked act of extrajudicial killing of defenceless citizens by suspected agents of the state cannot be justified or condoned under any rule or guise whatsoever.”
The statement partly read, “As lawmakers and representatives of the people, we cannot accept this gruesome execution of our young ones in their own country by security operatives. Life is sacred and no one has the right to terminate the life of another just because he has the apparatus of state power.
“Such brazen brutally and defilement of right to life, which is at the centre of the ongoing protests across the nation, underscores the demand for an immediate and total overhaul of our nation’s security architecture.
“We, therefore, call on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately order the arrest and prosecution of officers involved in the Lekki killing as well as the withdrawal of soldiers from engaging protesters.”
The caucus also restated its earlier call on Buhari to urgently rejig the nation’s security architecture through extensive reforms and urgent replacement of the service chiefs “with more competent and professional hands to assist in effectively handling of the security challenges confronting the nation.”
The caucus commiserated with the families of the victims of “this heinous act” while assuring them of immediate legislative actions that will ensure that justice is served.
