EndSARS: PUMA salutes youths for calling off protests

The Peace and Unity Media Advocacy (PUMA) has commended the Nigerian youths for calling off the protests to demand the scrapping of SARS codenamed ENDSARS.

The Executive Director of PUMA, Comrade Salihu Othman Isah in a press statement made available in Abuja on Sunday said the youths have exhibited maturity by putting the protests to an end since it has been hijacked by external forces and turned it violent.

Isah, explained that since the peaceful exercise has degenerated into a violent one incomplete difference to its main focus, it became imperative to put an end to it.

According to him, “Harkening to the voice of reason by calling off the protests which obviously have lost focus since it has been hijacked by forces who do not mean well for the nation or the essence of the protests aggregate, our youths attracts the commendation of all and sundry.

He also expressed the view that what the external forces who don’t mean well for the progress of Nigeria was out to achieve was hatching on the opportunity provided by the peaceful protest to cause chaos with the sole aim of dismembering to the nation.

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He expressed satisfaction on the wise thinking of the leadership of the protests not to provide a platform for enemies of the current government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to make the country ungovernable and cause an atmosphere reminiscent to the Rwanda, Somalia, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Sudanese experiences.

“Besides, their desire is to also distract the Federal Government from its focus to engender an egalitarian society and its various infrastructural developments.”, he added.

“I am happy that the Nigerian youths have realized that it has made an enduring statement, having realized that it has made its point and having realized that the enemies of the state have hijacked and misdirected  the focus of the EndSARS protest, decided to say, Enough is enough by calling it off

So the Nigerian youths deserve a medal of commendation for the swift act of calling of the protest.

Isah, however, disclosed that for those who believed the security forces derailed from their rules of engagement with the civil society, especially with the Lekki Toll Gate shooting got it all wrong.

He pointed out that, “the Nigerian Army or police as security apparatus of the nation, institutions set up to secure the citizens couldn’t have ordered its officers to turn their guns against the people.

What happened is that overzealous officers taking laws into their hands as individuals which can happen in any country of the world. A recent example is the killing of George Floyd by an officer of the American police.

“It do happen. It happens that once in a while, there comes an officer or officers of the law whose actions in the cause of their official or unofficial duty run contrary to the ethics or rules of engagement of the force which is what is referred to as extrajudicial killings. It can happen anywhere in the world. But this is not to justify the action”.