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Slams Sanwo-Olu for arresting a colleague plying one-way
A yet-to-be identified junior Nigerian soldier has accusedGovernor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state of using soldiers to execute dirty jobs but turn to disgrace them in the public.
The Herald reports this revelation comes in the wake of an incident where the governor ordered the arrest of a soldier for a traffic violation on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway, branding him as “useless” and threatening incarceration.
However, Sanwo-Olu’s statement did not go down well with another soldier who talked back at the governor in a viral video on X, revealing that the governor usually deploys soldiers to do dirty jobs.
“Calling a soldier useless? And you call yourself the governor but you are misbehaving up and down. Who are you, Governor Sanwo-Olu? When you want to do your dirty job, you will call soldiers. Go and check the Ojo Road, is it good?” the soldier said.
Another Nigerian soldier reacts to video of Gov. Sanwo-Olu arresting his colleague for flouting a traffic law in Lagos
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— kingrichwise 👑 ………Capo Di Tutti 🤴♏️ (@kingrichwise) January 4, 2024
While the officer did not explicitly specify the nature of the alleged “dirty jobs,” the controversy evokes memories of the tragic events during the EndSARS protests in October 2020. The officer’s reference to the Ojo Road suggests possible military involvement in contentious activities.
The judicial panel appointed by Lagos State previously confirmed the use of live bullets by soldiers against unarmed EndSARS protesters at Lekki Tollgate, resulting in injuries and fatalities. Despite the panel’s findings, Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration rejected the report and its recommendations.
In July 2023, a leaked memo unveiled plans for a clandestine mass burial of 103 EndSARS massacre victims, sparking widespread condemnation of Governor Sanwo-Olu, former President Muhammadu Buhari, and former Chief of Army Staff Tukur Buratai. Although the governor had denied a massacre during the protests, he later acknowledged the retrieval of 103 bodies from the streets of Lagos, attributing the delay in their burial to the families who purportedly abandoned the bodies for nearly three years.