NLC demands probe of attack on Lagos protesters

The Nigeria Labour Congress has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to investigate alleged use of the Police against some protesters, who were, on Saturday, demanding the abolition of tolls along the Lekki-Epe Expressway in Lagos. The NLC President, Abdulwaheed Omar, in a statement on Tuesday, also berated the Lagos State Government for allegedly justifying the attack by claiming, in a statement, that the protest was politically-motivated.Describing the statement credited to the spokesman of the state government as insensitive, the labour union also called on Governor Babatunde Fashola to suspend the toll collection until the outcome of a pending suit against it at the Appeal Court.The statement read, "The Congress highly respects the Lagos State Government under Governor Babatunde Fashola. We were therefore taken aback when its spokesperson sought to justify this brutality by claiming that the protest was politically motivated because a local Peoples Democratic Party leader was amongst the protesters."This type of insensitive statement is a throwback to the military era when ruling generals believed that Nigerians are incapable of independent thought and action."President Goodluck Jonathan needs to cause an investigation into this use of the Police against defenseless citizens and their brutalization. This is with a view to bringing culprits to book. "If the President fails to take immediate action he would be sending a message to the populace that the use of naked force against Lekki residents is a mere dress rehearsal before his administration descends on the Nigerian populace who are bound to resist the unpatriotic removal of oil subsidy."The NLC also urged the governor to order the release of all detained protesters, adding that he should also investigate alleged use of armed thugs as well as the involvement of Lagos State Government officials during the incident.According to the statement, the protest were only exercising their fundamental human rights and as such there was no justification for the police to use maximum force, including live ammunition on them.
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