The All Progressives Congress (APC) stalwart, Bola Tinubu, said he will never support any form of carnage.
Tinubu was reacting to the attack on Tuesday night, where officers of the Nigerian army open fire on #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate area of Lagos State.
The former Lagos State Governor made his position known on Wednesday morning in a telephone interview with Channels Television.
He condemned the alleged action perpetrated by the Nigerian Army, saying, “Why will they use live bullets?
“I will never, never be part of any carnage. I will never be part of that.”
The APC stalwart also denied having any investment in the Lekki Concession Company, the firm that manages the tollgate.
He said, “I have no dime, no kobo investment in the tollgate.”
He continued, “We are about 13 to 14 days into the protests now. Before now, I was being accused and reported to the Presidency that I was behind the protests, that I was a sponsor of the protests.”
Tinubu said he refuted the allegations and “appealed to the youths” and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to please respond to the demand of the protesters.
He said, “That was why he (Sanwo-Olu) set up the Judicial Commission of Inquiry. The governor has gone to the home of one of the victims to appeal to them.
“He has put N200m together as part of restitution and compensation for those attacked.”
The tragedy struck when the army, in their bid to disperse the #EndSARS protester, reportedly opened fire on the youths who were holding the flag of their country and shouting at the Lekki tollgate around 7pm on Tuesday.
According to eye witnesses, seven persons, mostly youths, died in the attack while 30 were injured, victims are currently receiving treatments at different hospitals in the Lekki Area.
#EndSARS protesters had been protesting against police brutality and extra-judicial killings across the country for over a week.
There are reports that hoodlums had hijacked the protests in some cities, wreaked havoc on citizens and vandalized public assets in Lagos, Benin, Abuja, Jos, Ekiti, Akure, Ibadan, to mention few.
On Tuesday, at least, three police stations and three banks were touched by hoodlums in Lagos.
The attack on Tuesday had been locally and internationally condemned.
