Questions to media over sectional reports of killings by #ENDSARS protesters

By OUR REPORTER

While a section of the Nigerian media has continued to focus on what is believed to be concocted Lekki Till Gate massacre that has no evidence three days after, it can be authoritatively reported that there were several other flash points in Lagos where #ENDSARS protesters violently took lives but members of the public including security men were not informed, a pained Nigerian told The DEFENDER on Thursday.

Policemen were therefore even more of victims of attacks by the protesters for instance the attacks leading to injuries sustained last weekend by operatives of Rapid Response Squad (RRS) at Lagos Mainland, setting ablaze of over 20 police stations, ribbing of passengers of BRT buses, attack and burning of the house of mother of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu among others, biting of Lagos Revision (LTV8), TVC, Nation Newspaper, vandalisation of others, which led to declaration of curfew on Tuesday.

Speaking under condition of anonymity, the source said there were killings in Ikorodu, Mushin and particularly Fagba, a community in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area of the state, which happened because police integrity to curb them had been tainted by their atrocities leading to the initial peaceful protests.

More baffled he said was that journalists, who live in those affected areas of Lagos, have been at the forefront of ‘Black Tuesday’ promoted to give impression that many protesters were massacred during the shootings by yet to be confirmed soldiers following imposition of 24-hour curfew by Lagos State government.

Evidences gathered during our investigations showed that the Lekki killings idea was a coordinated propaganda, although the government of the country was blamed for not reacting to counter the falsehood driven by established professionals and institutions, reason international community and other African societies took position, made judgements and pronouncements based on the unverified information.

In his nationwide broadcast Thursday night, however, President Muhammadu Buhari advised, yet again, the neighbouring countries and international community to always seek the truth and facts of event as it affects Nigeria before taking position, making their judgements and pronouncements as what they acted upon was nothing but information without evidence.

During the investigations, it was gathered why Nigerians, particularly the youths cannot carry out successfully legitimate protests.

“Because they allow ethnic, religious and political interests to supercede national and collective interest in their agenda. If they had succeeded in #ENDSARS without turning it to all of these unfortunately partisan reasons, even God would be happy with them and more of their needs, which they were deprived by their respective leaders, would follow.

“How do you explain an #ENDSARS protesters that began to attack the personality of your President and Northern people when your worry is none of those but on some unscrupulous police officers and personnel, who committed brutality and other atrocities against you as human beings? It would have been a different case if the President heard your cries but didn’t take action. That is not the case. But you turned out to run both him and his people down. Why? Is it journalism that you cannot raise issues as they should be raised no matter how complex they are made to become?

“You said you don’t want SARS because the SARS, constituted by your own people of the South, abused their powers to brutalise you their fellow citizens and the North say they want SARS but that instead of disbanding it completely, which will affect them, that it should be totally reformed to address the problem that you have. But you turned the fight against the North and President because of that. And this ethnic dimension became a fight that you media people took up against the President until the protesters began to now say ‘Buhari Must Go’. It makes the role of media in nation building suspicious. Why?

“You even used activities of a sponsored anti-Buhari agent, Aisha Yesufu, known to always seize every opportunity of crisis to launch her sadist attacks on the President and who led #ENDSARS where is no issue and then in Abuja,s you used that as evidence that the President is rejected cross-country. That is where you failed. That is why I want to blame what happened in Fagba, Ifako-Ijauye, Lagos on you the media. You appear to set the agenda for this ethno-religious hatred for the conflicts.  Some of you in the press don’t want it said but truth is, it caused the Yoruba-Hausa clashes that happened in Fagba, on Tuesday and still there till Thursday.”

In Fagba, more than 12 people were killed or burned to death as the #EndSARS protesters’ interference with some Hausa boys doing their businesses among them cow assistants and catpushers.

Our source said it was disheartening that all of these atrocities by commonman to commonman went on by the protesters, constituted by different categories of people ranging from armed robbers, ‘yahoo Yahoo boys’, cultists, who joined in the supposedly genuine protests, and the main media went blind to them but only saw a Lekki killing they are said to have difficulty proving.

“What many don’t know is that, fake and deliberately sectional reporting on the part of media practitioners whom we used to rely upon as last home of commonman, is easy way to mental health. It causes mental health because of the Calibre of people who engage in it. If you journalists that are trained carry fake and wicked news that raise our tensions, is it the untrained ones on social media we should run to? This, go and check, contributes to hypertension rate today in our Nigerian society,” he said.

The crisis in Fagba, he said, began Tuesday afternoon following the interference leading to altercation between some of the protesters and an Hausa cart pusher, in one of the instance. It was said protesters also tampered with cows of some if the Hausa in the Abattoir environment which lead to the Yoruba protesters fighting the Hausa ones who retreated to mobilise their fellow Hausa people and fought back.

The fight later degenerated as houses and cars in the area were burned and several lives were lost.

Some Yoruba youths on Wednesday night were also seen on the streets burning tyres and brandishing all sorts of weapons, getting prepared for possible revenge by the Hausa, according to the source.

According to our reporter, as at Wednesday evening, the bodies burned beyond recognition still on the ground at the scene of crisis were counted to be 11 while an amala seller at around Fagba junction was also killed.

Also affected by the crisis were four trucks conveying cattle to the abattoir, the building housing a popular pharmacy, Shekinah, Pedro’s Bar, a filling station and cars were completely razed.

While calling for quick deployment of security operatives to the area, the source said the confrontation had since been taken to inner streets, with residents not able to sleep again.

It has however been said that human rights lawyers who threatened government with International Criminal Court suit should take responsibility for the killings recorded, as generally, more Nigerians said it was not possible for them to blame the same authorities they asked not to use security forces to check protesters, een when they knew the protesters were violent. Governor of Osun and Ekiti had earlier escaped deaths in their states and jail break committed in Edo, all by protesters.