• Friday, March 29, 2024
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#EndSARS: Curfew continues in Lagos, says govt.

Lagos-Curfew

The 24-hour curfew imposed on Lagos by Governor Babajide on Tuesday over the escalating #EndSARS protest will continue for the next three days, Gbenga Omotosho, the state commissioner for information and strategy has said.

Omotosho confirmed to BusinessDay in a telephone conversation on Wednesday evening, that the curfew announced by the governor on Tuesday afternoon and took effect from 9pm same day, was “continous.”

“It is continuing for the next 72 hours,” said Omotosho, who added that the government would watch to see the tensed situation in Nigeria’s commercial city normalised before lifting the curfew.

The announcement of the curfew had further infuriated the protesting youths after suspected military personnel cashed in on it to fire live bullets at the #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate, killing yet to be ascertained number of persons and injuring others.

Following the shooting which has been widely condemned locally and internationally, there has been more destruction of public and private properties worth billions of naira in the state, forcing the governor on Wednesday morning to announce additional measures, including shutting down of government activities for three days, just as he exonerated the state government from the Tuesday night shooting by the soldiers.

According to Sanwo-Olu, “it became imperative to explain that no sitting governor controls the rules of engagement of the army, adding, however, “I have nevertheless instructed an investigation into the ordered and the adopted rules of engagement employed by the officers and men of the Nigerian Army deployed to the Lekki tollgate yesterday” with a view to taking this up with the high command of the Nigerian Army and seek the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari in his capacity as the commander-in-chief to unravel the sequence of event that happened.

He said “I have also personally visited the 10 patients at the General Hospital, the 11 at Reddington Hospital and the 4 at Vedic Hospital, with mild to moderate injuries as well as the 2 in intensive care. So far, 3 patients have been treated and discharged to reunite with their families.

However, in sensitivity with the mood of the nation at this time, I have directed the following:

The immediate suspension of all state activities for 3 days except those connected with governance of security in the State and the management of the current issue.

The lowering of the flags in all government establishments for 3 days. The constitution of a 5-man fact-finding committee into the rules of engagement ordered and adopted by the Nigerian Army to be headed by a retired military officer not less than the rank of a General.

The governor said from the lowest place where the incident has thrown the state, he was hopeful that the state shall rise again and regenerate with new strength for a brighter tomorrow.