Nigeria: Lagos flares up, President Buhari's silence calls out

Young people from Lagos demonstrate Wednesday October 21, 2020. AP / Sunday Alamba

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6 min

President Muhammadu Buhari is still silent and enigmatic while in the space of 48 hours, Lagos has suffered a double damage.

The megalopolis is still stunned by the military shooting against civilians on Tuesday, October 20 and a wave of violence, looting and destruction fell on the economic capital of Nigeria.

On Wednesday, the curfew was renewed for 72 hours

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With our correspondent in Abuja,

Many Nigerians wonder about President Muhammadu Buhari's decision not to speak to his people directly at this difficult time.

On Wednesday, as images of the ongoing violence went viral on social media and messages and reactions poured in from around the world, Muhammadu Buhari continued to wallow in silence.

But Nigeria's presidency has appealed for calm through spokesperson Femi Adesina.

She communicated above all on the establishment of a panel and a justice committee in several states of the Federation, bodies whose mission is to provide concrete and rapid judicial responses to the problem of police violence.

But on the side of Commander-in-Chief Muhammadu Buhari, no address to the nation, while attacks and interpersonal aggressions, destruction and looting are increasing in the four corners of Nigeria and at least seven governors have decided to establish a total curfew. or partial on their territory.

"To

Willful silence by the tactical choice of President Muhammadu Buhari, personal self-defense reflex or paralysis in the face of the immensity of the problems?

Nnamdi Obasi, senior adviser to the International Crisis Group, believes that " 

Muhammadu Buhari

 ".

Saying worried as a Nigerian, political scientist Adewale Yagboyaju, professor of political science at the University of Ibadan at the University of Ibadan, believes that “ 

 ”.

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: The Nigerian stars mobilize in the face of police violence

Lagos, city under extreme tension

In the meantime, it is the escalation of violence in Lagos where two media have been ransacked and burnt;

TVC a private television and the

n, a newspaper.

Both belong to Bola Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos and founding father of the APC, the presidential majority party.

Properties of the current Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo Olu and his relatives are also the target of groups of looters and thugs.

The headquarters of the Nigeria Port Authority were set on fire, as well as buildings bearing the initials of the Ports of Nigeria were targeted.

Branches of GT Bank, one of Nigeria's leading banking and financial institutions, were also ransacked.

Remains of the architectural heritage of Lagos have also been targeted.

As if these groups of nameless thugs were trying to deliver a message.

Leaving Lagos confused and its inhabitants distraught and unanswered.

Kano also plagued by violence and contestation

Buildings set on fire, churches attacked and businesses looted.

The city of Kano in northern Nigeria, the second largest in the country in terms of population, was also the scene of violence last Tuesday on the sidelines of the protests.

Until now the protest in the country was rather localized in the South, but it is now spreading to other localities.

The demands of the demonstrators from the North are more focused on local problems linked to insecurity: banditry, kidnappings and cattle rustling.

Kano, protests win the north

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