The running of Labour Party’s Peter Obi, Prof. Yusuf Datti Baba-Ahmed has said the events at Lekki Tollgate on October 20, 2020, which led to the deaths of Nigerians, can’t be categorically classed as a “Massacre.”
Speaking in a Channels TV interview on Thursday, Datti Baba-Ahmed said the events of that fateful day are highly debatable.
Massacre
The killing of a considerable number (usually limited to people) where little or no resistance can be made, with indiscriminate violence, without necessity, and contrary to civilized norms(Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary).
When asked if he aligns with those who described and believe that the events of that night was a massacre, Baba-Ahmed said, “There was abuse of human rights, there was abuse of procedure, if some people interpret those as massacre, then yes.”
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“However, massacre has different technical meanings, I can’t say I know all of it but I know massacre requires the assailants to have, first of all, no advance notice was given before the attack and the people, the victims must have been attacked in their own areas.”
“These are well-meaning Nigerians, who brought themselves out and they were attacked by the security persons that are meant to be protecting their lives and properties. The use of massacre is highly debatable, but I can say for sure that yes, there were abuses of procedure and there were civil rights violations.”
