After the army intervened on Tuesday night in Lagos against a peaceful youth rally that, according to Amnesty International, has left at least 12 dead and triggered a wave of looting and destruction in several southern states, Nigerians were all expecting a reaction from the president. But Muhammadu Buhari did not say a word about this drama in his speech on Thursday.
as reported from Abuja,Liza Fabbian
“A depressing speech devoid of empathy.” The term used by the Nigerian opposition party PDP sums up the general mood in Nigeria after the intervention of Muhammadu Buhari Thursday evening.
Nigerians were waiting for the president to comment on the army’s bloody intervention on Tuesday night and name the officials who ordered the military to fire, but Muhammadu Buhari did not even mention these events.
On social media on Thursday night, many Nigerians said they were “speechless” after a presidential speech that for some was “disconnected from reality”.
The words of the head of state, who accused the protesters of “threatening security” in the country, are widely condemned by the leaders of the movement, who accuse the government of having paid and armed the thugs who are now wreaking havoc in several cities. from the country.
New looting
On the spot, the situation is still tense, especially in Lagos, where several areas of the city have been completely searched and where a hangar containing food aid for families affected by the coronavirus crisis has been. looted yesterday.
The army, on the other hand, appears to have regained control of the city center, but gunfire still repeated sporadically in the working-class districts of the mainland this Friday morning.
Unlike the head of state, the city’s governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, apologizes to the families of the victims, whether they are police officers or civilians. Megalopolis authorities have launched a survey of the very significant damage caused throughout the city in recent days.
Postponement of local polls
In the Edo state, Governor Godwin Obaseki also participated in dialogue with civil society organizations and young people and decided to reduce the length of the current curfew.
The Nigerian Electoral Commission, for its part, announced on Thursday an indefinite postponement of 15 by-elections to be held in the country at the end of October.
When to Afropop stars who have supported this movement from the beginning, they expressed their disappointment on Twitter: singer Burna Boy says he is “traumatized” by recent events in his country. “It hurts so much for our generation,” we can also read on Davido’s Twitter account.
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