President Muhammadu Buhari has urged Nigerians to turn back family members who bring home goods they can’t account for.
After a week-long #EndSARS protest, violence had broken out
leading to looting of public and private properties across the country.
Garba Shehu, media aide to the president, in a statement on
Sunday, said the president has urged the police and other security agencies to
restore calm and normalcy as quickly as possible.
“President Buhari said while his administration is working
hard through many pragmatic ways to reduce the hardship of the millions of our
unemployed, poor citizens and those whose lives have been thrown into disarray
by the harsh economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, he warned that resort
to widespread attacks and the organised looting and plundering of public and
private property in many states are inimical to public good and stand
condemned,” the statement read.
“A government that has launched a massive crackdown on
corruption, brought in strong laws for a decisive battle against corruption,
pursues loot recovery at home and abroad, and taken strong decisions against
those who thought they were above the law, will not fold its arms when an
otherwise legitimate and peaceful protest is turning into free-for-all vandalism
and looting.
“While the administration has, for its part, blocked so many
means of looting public money in a war against corruption, it is the
expectation that all civil authorities, community and religious leaders in the
country must rise against the organised looting and plunder we are witnessing
in parts of the country.
“Families must turn back children who bring home unaccounted
goods, in the same way wives must ask their husbands to return looted items
brought home.”
The president said the incidents of vandalism and looting do
not reflect well on the country’s image and should not be supported by
reasonable members of the society.
“What is more, is that criminal actions as we have so far
witnessed can weaken and erode the confidence of our people and that of foreign
businesses in investing in the economy,” he was quoted as saying.
“Looting and vandalism will hurt trade and investment growth
in our country, both large and small industries, as well as our hardworking people
in the informal sectors of the economy.”
Violence escalated across the country after soldiers opened
fire on peaceful #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos on October
20.
Buhari has come under criticism for not mentioning the Lekki
shooting in his speech to address the protest, but the presidency insists that
“he had all along avoided going into a debate about the Lekki toll-gate
incidents until all the facts are established.”
The president, however, appealed to the people all over the
country to maintain peace.
He also commended state governments that have set up
judicial panels to look into human rights abuses by police officers.
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