By Shakirudeen Bankole
Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, has described the nationwide anti-police brutality protest, otherwise known as #EndSARS, as being political, with the primary intension of scuttling the chances of the ruling All Progressives Congress in the 2023 general elections.
According to him, the moment the 5-of-5 demands of the youthful protesters had been accepted by the President of the country, it was expected the demonstrators would have peacefully left the streets, had they not been instigated by some politicians, who are routing for the misfortunes of the APC.
Speaking on Channel Television Sunrise Daily Tuesday, Bello becomes the first APC Governor to publicly confirm the conspiracy theory being peddled around that the leading opposition party, People’s Democratic Party, may have orchestrated the protest and the subsequent deadly violence witnessed nationwide.
Bello said that, “the EndSARS protest was politically motivated,” stressing that “the handwriting are there to validate his position.”
According to him, “they (the protesters) initially requested for 5-of-5 demands. And it was accepted and being addressed by the president of the country. For example, you said the government should end SARS; that was done immediately. I mean, one would expect the group to leave the street at that time.
“But the moment you begin to expand your demands endlessly, it became crystal clear that the group was being sponsored or the entire protest was politically motivated,” he added.
Bello, however avoided further question regarding how transparent the government had been in handling the process of dispensing justice for the victims of SARS and police brutality in general, saying the angers experienced were product of many years of unattended injustice.
The governor also claimed that he is one of the natural leaders of the genuine leaders of the protesting youths, especially in Kogi State, and he has used his privileged position to address many of the concerns of the youths.
“In Kogi State, for example, the youth loves me. I love them too. I am naturally one of their leaders. I have done so much for the youths. My administration is packed with young people. And we are doing all of these to address the unattended marginalisation they have complained about,” he explained.
