BEVERLY HILLS, October 29, (THEWILL) – The Presidency on Thursday faulted the report released on Wednesday by Amnesty International on the movement of military men to the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Thursday, Special Adviser to the President on Media & Publicity, Femi Adesina said the claims that military high-handedness towards the protesters at Lekki Tollgate led to hoodlums looting and burning across the country was wrong.
“The looting and rioting were not caused by the military shootings because there was already violence before the Lekki incident. “The prison break incidents in Benin and Oko had happened before Lekki. Orile Police Station was burnt before Lekki. Many things happened before Lekki. So Lekki didn’t precipitate the looting, arson”, he stressed.
“Many policemen had been burnt before Lekki. So, you cannot say it was Lekki that precipitated all those things. Look at the timelines, look at when all those things. You will discover that it had happened before Lekki. So, you are falling for the gambit of Amnesty International”, he added.
When asked if it was the President’s thinking that Amnesty’s report was wrong, Adesina said the global watchdog had been known to always make unsubstantiated reports about Nigeria.
“Many times, the military has come out to dispute facts brought out by Amnesty,” he said.
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When probed further as to whether the President approved the military action in Lekki as the commander-in-chief, Adesina said he would not want to undermine the work of the panel of inquiry looking into the matter.
Asked about the reports by the ministers who President Buhari had sent to their home states, Adesina said “only two ministers had briefs ready. The rest are still in their respective states. They should turn in their reports in the coming week and they will help establish the truths about some things. The minister will come with what is near authentic.”
In a released report by Amnesty International on Wednesday, the rights group chronicled the movement of soldiers from a barracks till they got to the tollgate, where flag-waving and the National Anthem-singing #EndSARS protesters were shot at.
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Earlier, it had claimed that about 12 persons were killed in the shooting, which precipitated the looting spree across the country.
