Baba-Ahmed had while speaking on Channels Television on Thursday said it was not certain that there was a massacre at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos State on October 20, 2020.
The vice-presidential candidate of the African Action Congress, Barrister Haruna Garba Magashi has berated the vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party for the 2023 election, Senator Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed, for describing the Lekki massacre as “highly debatable”.
Baba-Ahmed had while speaking on Channels Television on Thursday said it was not certain that there was a massacre at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos State on October 20, 2020.
According to him, the use of “massacre” during the October 20, 2020 event is highly debatable.
“There was abuse of procedure, if some people interpret that as massacre. The use of 'massacre' in #EndSARS is highly debatable but I can say for sure there were abuses of procedure and civil rights violations,” he had said.
Reacting in a statement, Magashi said the words from Datti “is not only embarrassing, it is an insult on humanity and an attack on the quest for total liberation of all Nigerians from the wicked hands of fascists and systematic tyranny”.
He asked why the LP VP candidate keeps portraying northerners as barbarians and people without civility.
The statement read, “If Datti is not well read enough to understand what a massacre is, he should at least use his phone to "verify" as his deceitful group is wont to shouting. A massacre is "a deliberate and brutal slaughter of many people." This is obviously why it is literarily termed "cold-blooded!"
“I understand why Datti is speaking from a watery and cunning mouth on this issue. He is a kindergarten oppressor that takes delight in acting like the enemies of the people. Datti is so conservative and anti-people that he never for once condemned and fight against all the thousands of human rights abuses in the North.
“Datti is clearly defending barbarism by this statement. His other defences are insults on the most profound Judicial Panel Report in history that critically and correctly judged the incidents at Lekki as a "massacre!"
“Datti keeps portraying Northerners as barbarians and people without civility. We are a very civil people. The greatest development in any part of Nigeria, in spite of Awolowo's Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN)'s gigantic presence was the Aminu Kano-led People's Redemption Party (PRP) as represented by Balarabe Musa of Kaduna and Abubakar Rimi of Kano in the Second Republic.
“The great developments have been destroyed today by the mis-governments that have reigned after these legends. The North is a bastion of development, and the African Action Congress (AAC) is the party that is showing same tendencies today. We are happy that the great progressives in the vast North is gathering together to support Omoyele Sowore as the new revolution that can build a new Nigeria.
“Let Datti and the rest know that Northern Talakawa people will rise soon as we are most oppressed people in Nigeria. We lack almost all basic amenities. The only thing we have is people like Datti and his godfathers using the North to rake in private wealth and distort our history and good ideas.
“What I can assure Datti and his anti-people movement is that the wind has blown and Northerners know their actual friends and enemies. We know those who stood against the infamous Zaria Massacre of Shi'ites in Kaduna.
“We know those who used their press power to fight the Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgencies. We know those who stood against the planned pogroms in Southern Kaduna. And we know those who organized and publicized the help-bringing #NorthIsBleeding.
“The three fingers of Oppression parties can go on and on with their jamboree rallies. But the Talakawas are rallying Door-To-Door, and streets-to-streets for the New Hope of the Masses. The days of the people cannot be postponed anymore. This is why EndSARS must be greatly respected and justice must be ensured for all victims nationally.
“I also call on all governors detaining victims unjustly. Release these great comrades now! This is why our Governorship candidate in Lagos, the gentle and suave Akeem Olayiwola, will implement all the letters of the Justice Okuwobi-led Lagos State Judicial Panel on EndSARS and other related matters of police brutality immediately we are declared, insha Allah, come 2023!
“By legal and moral standards, what happened in Lekki is not just abuse of human rights, it is a grave assault on humanity. It is a pogrom that has put thousands of people in trauma, perpetual fear, and depressions. I align with all the great EndSARS youths and the Judicial Panel that what was planned and executed for hours on the night of October 20th, 2020, two years ago was a genocide. A wicked and bloody pogrom. A massacre we will never forget!”