By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Without any mention of the killing of unarmed protesters at the Lekki tollgate on Tuesday by soldiers which provoked national and international outrage, President Muhammadu Buhari in a nationwide broadcast on Thursday warned that nobody would be allowed to disturb the peace of Nigeria.
He subsequently asked #EndSARS protesters to discontinue street protests since the government, according to him, has accepted the demands of the youths.
Buhari stated said his government respects and will continue to respect all the democratic rights and civil liberties of the people.
“This government respects and will continue to respect all the democratic rights and civil liberties of the people, but it will not allow anybody or groups to disrupt the peace of our nation.
“I must warn those who have hijacked and misdirected the initial, genuine and well-intended protest of some of our youths in parts of the country, against the excesses of some members of the now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
“The choice to demonstrate peacefully is a fundamental right of citizens as enshrined in Section 40 of our Constitution and other enactments; but this right to protest also imposes on the demonstrators the responsibility to respect the rights of other citizens, and the necessity to operate within the law,” he said.