The Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) has called for the immediate resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari, the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, and the Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission (NBC), Prof. Armstrong Aduku Idachaba, over Lekki shootings.
Their role, CNPP said was unpatriotic and an attempt to cover up extrajudicial killings of protesters.
The CNPP’s Secretary-General, Chief Willy Ezugwu in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday while reacting to CNN’s investigative report said the development indicated that the Nigerian Army has a lot to explain in the Lekki shootings.
Ezugwu called on: “the International Criminal Court of Justice to investigate, arrest and prosecute them and other of their co-travelers for crimes against humanity to serve as a deterrent to other African leaders who kill unarmed peaceful demonstrators, protesting bad policies of the government.”
The umbrella association of all registered political parties and political associations in the country said: “Nigerian democracy is in danger as the voice of opposition is being silenced by the Federal Government of Nigeria, using all arms of government and instrumentalities of the office of the executive to shut the voices of oppressed citizens.
“It is now obvious that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration deliberately engaged the Director-General of the Nigerian Broadcasting Commission to intimidate, harass and stampede Nigerian broadcast media houses in a bid to cover up the Lekki Massacre by slamming unjustifiable N3 million fine on three television stations over reports on the killings.
“As if the killings by the Nigerian Police, through its Special Anti-Robbery Squad unit, were not enough, President Muhammadu Buhari as the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian armed forces authorized the use of maximum force to disperse unarmed citizens protesting against bad leadership and extrajudicial killings in the country.
“It is a shame that the Nigerian government and the Nigerian army have no respect for our national flag and Anthem.
“The outcome of the CNN investigation now raises strong doubts on the loyalty or allegiance of the Nigerian security agencies to the Nigerian nation.
“Sovereignty belongs to the people and if the people for whom the Nigerian President holds power in the trust are now murdered in cold blood by their employees paid through their taxes, there is danger ahead for our democracy.
“To save Nigerian democracy, and all democracies in Africa, the International Criminal Court of Justice must now unmask all the state and non-state actors involved in the killing of Nigerian patriots at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos.”
CNPP said further that: “The CNN was very conclusive when it noted on its website that ‘the Nigerian army has called allegations that it fired into the crowd “fake news” and told a judicial panel of inquiry that it did not shoot at any civilian but a new CNN investigation can reveal this is not true.
“Given the new CNN’s insights into the Lekki Massacre perpetrated by agents of the state on orders of the authorities of the Nigerian state, we demand the immediate resignation of their Commander-in-Chief, President Muhammadu Buhari, Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, and the Director-General of the NBC, Prof. Armstrong Aduku Idachaba, for their anti-people roles in the killings and the attempts to cover up the massacre of unarmed Nigerian people at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on October 2020.
“If Manuel Merino, President of Peru, resigned following the death of two protesters, it is time for President Buhari to resign if he still has any integrity left.”