Peter Obi embarrassed as his running mate Datti Baba-Ahmed dismisses Lekki toll gate massacre talk

FORMER Anambra State governor and Labour Party presidential candidate Peter Obi is facing the first serious hiccup of his campaign after his running mate Datti Baba-Ahmed appeared to dismiss the #EndSars Lekki toll gate shootings two years ago.

Back in 2020, Nigeria was engulfed by the #EndSars protests as youths staged nationwide demonstrations against police brutality, calling for the scrapping of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force. After about a month of protest, the campaign was ended using brutal force when the Nigerian Army opened fire on youths as the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos.

When asked about the protest over during an interview on the Channels TV programme, Politics Today, Mr Baba-Ahmed claimed the use of the word massacre is debatable. This assertion attracted immediate reaction from many Nigerians, especially the youths, who are solidly behind Governor Obi and believe Mr Baba-Ahmed's statement was a denial that killings took place at the toll gate.

While fielding questions on the Arise TV Morning Show programme this morning, Governor Obi said he was hearing Mr Baba-Ahmed's statement about the Lekki shooting for the first time. He added that so many things were done wrongly in the past and needed to be apologised for.

Governor Obi said: “I did not even listen to that, so maybe I will go back and listen to everything. I must tell you, I did not listen to it, I am just hearing it for the first time. For me, there are things we need to probably open up tomorrow and look into.

“I have always said, in my reconciliation, we must go back to certain things and be able to apologise to people because things were done wrongly. There are so many things that we need to apologise for in this country.”