The revered
King who noted that he would lead other traditional
rules to meet with the Federal Government and organisers of the protest, added
that the killing of the protesters is disheartening and regrettable.
Ooni in a statement released through his media aide, Moses
Olafare, called on the Federal Government and protesters to calm down at this
moment.
The statement read in part: “Tension has risen on both sides. It’s time to calm down and allow
traditional rulers, as fathers of the Nation to lead the way to peace and
restoration of trust.”
“We must find amicable solutions even though this Lekki Toll Gate
attack, has regrettably eroded the trust needed to establish dialogue and
ensure a civic process for resolving the crises. We must not be tired.”
“Our political leadership must
immediately investigate the circumstances that led to the avoidable
confrontation and consequent loss of lives to swiftly fish out the unlawful
attackers who must be made to face the law.”
“We need to manage the process of listening to them and working
with them to jointly arrive at the new Nigeria of our collective dreams, a
dream that President Muhammadu Buhari has recognised as a statesman and our
president.”
“There is no doubt the exploitation of the protests by criminals
attacking prisons, police stations and public facilities put the government on
edge and might have led to the military option, but it’s important to separate
hoodlums committing these heinous crimes from protesters gathered in a specific
location to draw attention to their legitimate demands.”
“There is a clear difference between the criminal hoodlums who
have begun to hijack the hitherto peaceful protests and the patriotic Nigerian
youths who were daily converging at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos and selected
locations in other states including Abuja FCT in line with global best
practices of protest gathering.”
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