Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Timi Frank, on Friday, described President Muhammadu Buhari’s national address in response to the ongoing protests against police brutality as an insult upon injury inflicted on Nigerians by his bad policies and harsh socio-economic conditions.
Frank made this assertion in reaction to the Thursday night broadcast by the President.
He accused the President of gross insensitivity for not acknowledging the massacre of scores of Nigerians by soldiers at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos.
He said that by not paying respect to the dead, injured and bereaved families, the President has shown that he is neither a father nor a leader.
“Buhari as the Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces is incharge of the Nigerian Army and therefore cannot deny giving the order to deploy soldiers to the tollgate who rained bullets that massacred the #EndSARS protesters.
“It is evident, I dare say, that Buhari deliberately omitted to condemn the ignoble act and order investigation into the massacre of unarmed and peaceful #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate on Tuesday night because he is complicit in deploying lethal force for the infamous military operation.
“It is unthinkable that after such a horrendous rain of bullets on unarmed protesters the President still could not empathize with the wounded nor sympathize with those who lost their loved ones,” he declared.
He called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to take strong action against Buhari, the Governor of Lagos State and the Nigerian Army for the pogrom.
He said that rather than being conciliatory and stooping to conquer, Buhari’s speech was filled with military rhetoric even as an elected President.
He said: “Clearly, there is nothing to cheer in a speech that belittled and attempted to hide a tragedy of mowing down innocent youths who were out exercising their fundamental human rights and voicing their frustrations through peaceful assembly and demonstrations.
“Besides, the speech was laced with threats and condescendingly vexatious. I dare say that Buhari’s speech poses more threat to national security than the peaceful protests they forcefully dispersed with high calibre military arms and ammunition.”
He lamented that the President was more concerned about increasing the salary of policemen and other armed security agencies while neglecting to talk about compensation for youths killed or maimed for life at the Lekki Tollgate.
He added: “Buhari’s speech is a monumental insult and mockery on Nigerians. No sympathy for the wounded and bereaved.”
“Rather, he threatened Nigerians. His statement was mechanical, disjointed and unpresidential. Nigerians deserve better! What a shame!”
