PANDEF reacts to Buhari’s broadcast

  

Air Commodore Idongesit Nkanga (Rtd)

…calls on international community to intervene in the Nigerian situation

A press release by the Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, signed by Ken Robinson, National Publicity Secretary of the organisation has called on the African Union and the international community to intervene in the crisis in Nigeria.

Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, described President Muhammadu Buhari’s address to the Nation on the #EndSARS protests as largely rhetoric, placid and disappointing. It stated that while Mr. President finally heeded calls for him to address the nation on the on-goings in the country, it did not think his address resonated with the youths who were in the Streets of Nigeria for #EndSARS #EndPolicBrutality Protests. PANDEF noted that it was not the appropriate time for heralding attainments of the mostly lopsided Social Intervention Programmes of the administration.

It said Nigerians had expected a frank, confidence building, trust boosting and emphatical address. PANDEF stated further that, “the massacre of peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll gate in Lagos on the evening of Tuesday, 20th October 2020, where persons in army uniform shot sporadically at the peaceful protesters, leading to many young Nigerians been injured with unspecified deaths, was the high point of the #EndSARS protests. It was therefore grossly disappointing that Mr. President said nothing about that awful incident in his address”.

It noted that, while it is apparent that the peaceful End SARS protests may have been hijacked by unscrupulous persons, the fact remains that what happened at Lekki toll gate last Tuesday evening, was most despicable, and would remain an awful smudge on the Nation’s democratic journey.

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It said today, the world has become a global village, with technology, the world is totally connected. What was happening at Lekki Toll gate was at that instant seen by the global community. Nigeria is an important member of the global community for many reasons. With a population of over 200 million, any untold crisis in the country would affect the whole world, and therefore, the untactful warning of our neighbours and the International Community, was completely unnecessary.

PANDEF had a few days ago called on the African Union and the International Community to intervene in the situation in Nigeria before things get out of hand. We would wish to reiterate that call.