Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of failing to provide answers to Nigerians over the October 2020 Lekki shooting, saying six years after the incident, the country is still waiting to know who ordered the shooting.

Atiku, in a statement marking the sixth anniversary of the EndSARS protests, said the APC-led government owed Nigerians, particularly young people, accountability for the incident and a better future amid worsening economic hardship.

“Six years after the Lekki shooting, Nigeria is still waiting for a clear answer to one devastating question: Who gave the order?” he said.

He also recalled the response of President Bola Tinubu, who, in October 2020, questioned the circumstances surrounding the presence of protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate and the casualties recorded during the incident.

Atiku said Tinubu, rather than demonstrating the empathy and compassion the tragedy demanded, had asked: “How were they there? How long were they there? What kind of characters are they?”

According to him, the response appeared more concerned with questioning the victims than demanding accountability from those responsible for the violence against peaceful protesters.

“The anger trending across the country today is not a social media performance. It is grief that has been left to harden into distrust,” Atiku said.

He added that families were still demanding answers while young Nigerians who participated in the protests continued to await the truth about the incident.

The former vice president said the APC, having governed the country for six years since the protests, could no longer avoid confronting the unresolved questions surrounding the shooting.

“The APC has governed Nigeria through these six years. It cannot keep asking Nigerians to remember the dead while refusing to confront the unanswered questions,” he said.

Atiku argued that a government unable to assure citizens that their lives mattered had failed in one of its most basic responsibilities.

He also linked the lingering grievances over the Lekki shooting to the economic difficulties confronting young Nigerians, citing rising petrol prices, transportation costs and shrinking opportunities.

According to him, petrol selling at ₦1,405 per litre meant less money for food, education, rent and other essential needs.

“The APC promised renewal. For too many Nigerians, the experience has been rising costs, shrinking opportunity and a future pushed further out of reach,” he said.

“No speech about growth can excuse empty pockets. No anniversary tribute can replace justice. No campaign slogan can erase six years of unanswered questions.”

Atiku also narrated the experience of a young woman who, according to him, resigned from her job because her salary could no longer cover the cost of transportation to work.

He quoted the woman as saying: “The pay no longer covers transport. Everything in Nigeria just dey increase in price. Feels like I’m working for Bolt guys.”

Describing the situation as evidence of the country’s worsening cost-of-living crisis, Atiku said even Nigerians who had secured employment were increasingly struggling to afford the cost of earning a living.

He blamed the government’s economic policies for worsening the difficulties faced by workers, arguing that salaries had lost purchasing power amid rising prices.

Atiku said his proposed Economic Recovery Plan was designed to address the challenges through measures aimed at making Nigeria more affordable.

He listed support tied to domestically refined fuel, with savings passed on to consumers, increased local production to create jobs, protection for minimum-wage earners, student support and reductions in government waste rather than the imposition of new taxes.

“Young Nigerians deserve the truth about Lekki. They deserve a government that protects life, and an economy that gives work a chance to lead somewhere,” he said.

“Six years on, the APC has had ample time to answer for its record. Nigerians are entitled to ask why the answers and the opportunities are still missing.”

The EndSARS protests began in October 2020, with young Nigerians demanding an end to police brutality and the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

The Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos became a major protest site. The shooting of protesters there on October 20, 2020, triggered widespread outrage and renewed calls for accountability over the use of force against demonstrators. (Daily Trust)