Festus Keyamo, Minister of State for Labour and Employment, has said the #EndSARS protest has shown that those who instigate people to commit violence have the means to flee Nigeria and leave their vulnerable listeners stranded and unhappy in the country.
Writing in a series of posts on Twitter on Sunday on the effect of violence, Keyamo, who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said chaotic events such as the #EndSARS protest of October 2020 and the over 10-year insurgency war in the North-East region has clearly revealed that the victims of war are not the intended targets but those who are influenced by the proponents of war.
The minister insisted that the call for calm from the government and responsible citizens is not out of cowardice but to protect the weak.
1. During the COVID-19 lockdown, those badly affected were unfortunately the weak and lowly amongst us; during ENDSARS, the eventual victims that lost billions were not the intended targets; the insurgency in the North East has mostly affected the weak and vulnerable amongst us;
— Festus Keyamo, SAN (@fkeyamo) March 27, 2021
“The victims of war would not be the intended targets, but the hapless ones who’re listening to the advocates of war. When Govt & responsible citizens call for calm, it’s not out of cowardice or self-preservation; it’s to protect the weak from the fraudulent intrigues of a few.
“ENDSARS has taught Nigerians a bitter lesson: those who push others to violence usually have the means and resources to take care of themselves and their families and even leave our shores whilst those who they instigate to violence suffer the brutal consequences or even die,” Keyamo tweeted.
Some of the #EndSARS campaigners left Nigeria after the protests ended following the shooting incident at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos State on October 20, 2020, prominent among them being Moe Odele, a lawyer, who is currently in the United States of America.
