….Denies ownership of Lekki Toll Gate Concession
By Emma Ogbuehi
All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain and former Lagos State governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has washed of his hands in events leading to shooting of #ENDSARS# protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on Tuesday, October 20, stressing that those associating him with the incidence were merely being mischievous.
In a statement personally signed by him, the APC leader flatly denied reports linking him with deployment of soldiers against the peaceful protesters, describing the allegation as complete and terrible lie. “This allegation is a complete and terrible lie. I did not order this or any assault against anybody. I would never want such a vile thing to happen nor did I have any prior knowledge about this sad event”, he lamented.
While blaming his opponents for the allegation, Tinubu admitted that they every right to oppose him politically but should have the courage to do so in the open, above board and to employ facts not evil fiction in their efforts against him.
The former governor also denied ownership of the Toll Gate Concession. In his words; “The slander aimed at me is based on the untruth that I own the toll gate concession. The hate mongers prevaricate that I ordered the Lekki assault because the protests had caused me to lose money due to the interruption of toll gate activity”. He challenged Nigerians to thoroughly investigate the matter of his alleged ownership of the toll plaza.
Tinubu insisted that the allegations against him make no sense because they are untrue, adding that they are parented by those seeking to stoke and manipulate the people’s anger in order to advance political objectives that have nothing to do with the subject matter of the protests.
He blamed the destruction of media houses – The Nation Newspapers and Television Continental, where he has interests, on elements he described as hirelings of his political opponents.
The APC chieftain expressed empathy with those who lost their lives or were injured during the protests. “I empathise with those who have lost their businesses and residences through no fault of their own but because hurtful, destructive misanthropes took it upon themselves to use this moment to disguise their efforts to destroy and upend the prosperity and hope so many of us took so many years to build. This is not what the genuine protesters wanted and no one should blame them for this destruction”, Tinubu added in the statement. He warned against hasty conclusion on the matter, stressing it can lead to rash decisions.
Moving forward, Tinubu suggested legal actions to allow for the creation of state police and the recruitment and training of many more police officers. He urged restraints on the part of the government in handling the protesters.
For emphasis, the former governor stated that he was a major loser in the turn of events in the state. He said; “The present situation clearly does nothing to profit me politically or otherwise. It has complicated matters for me because many people now wrongfully blame me for a violent incident in which I played no part”.
