PDP blasts Sanwo-Olu over arrest of Lekki tollgate protesters

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has slammed Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lago State over the arrest of Lekki tollgate protesters on Saturday, February 13, 2021.

The opposition party said the arrest showed that Governor Sanwo-Olu led administration in Lagos prioritises the billions of naira generated at the Lekki tollgate over the welfare of the residents of the state.

The Lagos Judicial Panel investigating the alleged killing of #EndSARS protesters had on Saturday, February 6, 2021, approved the reopening of Lekki tollgate for commercial operations.

But the PDP questioned the panel on why it thought it necessary to order the resumption of collection of tolls at the tollgate that was shut as a result of alleged killing of protesting youths.

The party said, “Lagosians will never believe that a time will come in the State when citizens’ rights to peaceful protests will be muscled by a supposed democratic government.”

Reacting to the arrest of the protesting youths, Lagos State Chairman of the PDP, Adedeji Doherty in a statement on Sunday said, “It is now clear that all that matters to the APC government of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is the billions of naira generated at the Lekki Toll Gate, and not the welfare of the people.”

“When did it become the duty of a judicial panel of inquiry to order the resumption of collection of tolls at a Toll Gate, which was shut down owing to the alleged killing of youths whose only offence is that they demanded that SARS policemen should stop killing them?

“The Lagos State Government and most especially, the members of the House of Assembly from Lagos Island, Eti-Osa, Ibeju-Lekki, and Epe LGAs should open up a public hearing or Referendum on the reopening of this controversial tollgate to show the world that democracy is really the order of the day in Lagos State, instead of trying to crush a peaceful protest without presenting any kind of alternative medium of diplomacy as it concerns the tollgate issue."

The party, however, urged the youths to remain strong and committed in their quest for a Nigeria where the government does the right thing and citizens are allowed to ventilate their grievances freely.