Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has weighed in on the crises currently rocking several parts of the country following the violent turn of the #ENDSARS protests.
The former president has now joined other prominent Nigerians in calling on the president, Muhammadu Buhari to address the grievances of the protesters, many of whom have been killed, before things escalate further.
In an open letter titled “statement on violence against protesters in Nigeria: An appeal for calm,” which the former army general personally signed and made available to the press yesterday, Obasanjo accused Buhari and the military of not exhausting all options before they used force against the protesters.
According to former president “Great harm has been done, but it can be stopped before it completely spirals out of control.”
He urged Buhari to withdraw soldiers from streets and engage protesters in dialogues.
While blaming the President for the murder of the protesters at Lekki and other parts of the country, Obasanjo said the shooting of unarmed protesters had never been effective in suppressing public anger.
He also said, “Most of the demands of the protesting youth, which Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State swiftly took to the President, are not unreasonable and can be met without anyone’s political interest or ambition being threatened.”
Obasanjo also advised the youth to eschew violence , advising them to give peace a chance and stop destruction of public property and targeting individuals.
