Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar has renewed calls for accountability over the October 2020 Lekki shooting, asking who authorised the use of force against protesters six years after the incident.
Atiku, who is the presidential candidate of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), made the demand in a post on his X account on Tuesday, accusing the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of failing to provide satisfactory answers to Nigerians over the incident.
“Six years after the Lekki shooting, Nigeria is still waiting for a clear answer to one devastating question: Who gave the order?” he asked.
The former vice-president also criticised President Bola Tinubu’s response to the incident in October 2020, arguing that his comments at the time appeared to focus more on questioning the protesters who suffered casualties than demanding accountability from those responsible.
According to Atiku, the failure to establish the truth surrounding the incident has increased public distrust in the government and prolonged the suffering of families still seeking justice.
He said the anger and frustration expressed by Nigerians were not merely reactions on social media but reflected unresolved grief, disappointment and a lack of confidence in the country’s institutions.
“The anger trending across the country today is not a social media performance. It is grief that has been left to harden into distrust. It is the pain of families still demanding answers, and of young people who watched their calls for dignity meet violence and then watched the country move on without the truth they deserve,” he stated.
Atiku argued that the APC, having governed Nigeria throughout the six years since the incident, should take responsibility for addressing the unanswered questions surrounding the shooting.
He maintained that a government had a fundamental responsibility to assure citizens that their lives mattered and that allegations of violence against peaceful protesters would be properly investigated.
The ADC presidential candidate also linked the lingering concerns over the Lekki shooting to the economic difficulties confronting Nigerians, particularly young people and low-income earners.
Citing the rising cost of petrol, which he put at ₦1,405 per litre, Atiku said many households were struggling to afford basic necessities, including food, rent, education and transportation.
To illustrate the situation, he shared an account reportedly given to him by one of his aides about a young woman who resigned from her job because her salary could no longer cover the cost of commuting to work.
Quoting the woman, Atiku said: “The pay no longer covers transport. Everything in Nigeria just dey increase in price. Feels like I’m working for Bolt guys.”
He described the situation as an indication of the growing financial pressure on workers, noting that some employed Nigerians could no longer comfortably afford the cost of getting to their workplaces.
Atiku said his proposed Economic Recovery Plan was designed to address the hardship and make life more affordable for Nigerians.
According to him, the plan includes measures to provide relief linked to fuel refined locally, encourage domestic production and job creation, protect minimum-wage earners, support students and reduce government waste.
He explained that the proposed measures would focus on providing practical relief to citizens rather than introducing additional taxes to finance government spending.
“This is precisely the hardship my Economic Recovery Plan is designed to address, with one overriding objective: to Make Nigeria Affordable Again,” he wrote.
Atiku added that Nigeria needed to create an environment where young people could secure employment, meet their basic needs and build a better future.
He insisted that Nigerians deserved the truth about the Lekki shooting, alongside economic policies that would improve their living conditions and restore public confidence in government.
“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,” he said.
The October 2020 Lekki shooting occurred during the nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality and the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). The incident remains a major point of public debate, with questions about the events surrounding the shooting and accountability continuing to generate reactions across the country.
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