New Telegraph

Capitol Hill protest: Unlike ‘bloodless Lekki massacre’

Now that the United States (US), the acclaimed ‘sanest’ democracy in the world, has been desecrated with the invasion of the Capitol Hill by supporters of the outgoing President Donald Trump who were fatally shot in the process, the question to ask is who will prosecute officers of the National Guards who fired at the protesters?

Imagine the reaction which would have followed if this had happened in Nigeria. Several unpatriotic elements, pseudo-analysts and commentators would have called for the head of the leadership of the security apparatus all in an attempt to paint their country bad. What a hypocrisy!

I cannot forget in a hurry how Nigeria was almost brought down during the #EndSARS protest by the so-called ‘social media activists’ whose stock in trade was to dish out fake news as they made spirited attempt to denigrate our security agents that rose to the occasion and restored sanity to the country during the now infamous #EndSARS protest.

In Lagos, the popular ‘bloodless’ Lekki massacre is still fresh in our national psyche and the dust raised by the degree of misinformation, disinformation and deliberate falsehood churned out by enemies of the country and their collaborators in the international community and the international media, is yet to settle.

From the various unsubstantiated reports by the international media especially the CNN to the tweeting and retweeting of falsehood by our so-called celebrities and ‘DJ nonsense’, it was glaring that some forces were desperate to sell the country out for nothing, truncate the democratic system and reverse the gains of our nascent democracy.

Without being immodest, I make bold to observe that there is no perfect system anywhere in the world except we want to deceive ourselves.

Now take the ugly scenario which played out in the US that we all adore and idolize as the most perfect system in the world. The Congress convened to affirm the victory of Joe Biden in the November 20, 2020 Presidential Election when the unthinkable happened. Protesters believed to be sympathetic to the outgoing President Trump stormed the streets of Washington D.C in protest against the impending affirmation of Biden by the joint session of the US Congress comprising the Senate and the House of Representatives.

There was palpable tension in the US as the protesters marched towards the Capitol Hill where the process was taking place.

In response to the raging protest, the Mayor of Washington D.C, Muriel Bowser at around 2:30 p.m ordered a citywide curfew beginning from 6 p.m on Wednesday giving the protesters and anyone on the streets of Washington DC less than four hours to go home. Despite the curfew, the protesters remained undaunted as they marched towards the Capitol Hill until they broke through the Capitol, forcing lawmakers to go into hiding while the process of Biden’s victory confirmation was stalled.

Good, the Washington D.C security forces rose to the occasion and at the end of the day four people who were believed to be protesters lost their lives. This was well reported by the global media including the ‘Almighty’ CNN.

But what was striking to me was that the same CNN which reported the so-called Lekki massacre called the invasion of the Capitol Hill ‘an insurrection and a coup plot.’ There was never a condemnation of the killing of the protesters who were reportedly shot by security agents who rose through the occasion to ‘protect American democracy.’

Because it happened in America it was an insurrection and a coup attempt. But in Nigeria, it was ‘a massacre of innocent souls’ without any iota of evidence. Nothing can be more hypocritical! As at today, there has not been any reliable evidence to prove the imaginary Lekki massacre but it is on record that four Capitol Hill protesters lost their lives while several others were injured. We remember how many celebrities were pronounced dead online only for them to ‘resurrect’ and debunk the reports.

This only point at one thing. Our security forces especially officers of the Nigerian Army who took charge of the near anarchy that descended on Lagos in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protest have proved to be more professional than their US counterparts.

No doubt the scenario appears the same but the outcome was different thanks to the sheer professionalism, tactical patience and courageous restraint displayed by the Nigerian Army in restoring sanity to Lagos and other parts of Nigeria when hoodlums hijacked the protests against police brutality thereby destroying several public facilities.

The lesson here is not far-fetched. You don’t bring down your country just because you don’t like the sitting government. We are always quick to mention that America has strong institutions to weather any storm at any point in time, but our military institution has proved to be strong enough to protect the territorial integrity of the country.

Yes the American democracy is over 250-year old while Nigeria’s is just in its 20th but our military, especially the Nigerian Army has demonstrated one thing – resilience, tenacity of purpose, the high spirit to protect our fledgling democracy and invigorate the territorial integrity of the nation. Without that sheer professionalism displayed by the Tukur Buratai’s men, the level of destruction that would have been unleashed on our country by enemies of state hiding under #EndSARS protest, would have been unimaginable.

Now that the protest in the US is over, should we now invite the International Criminal Court (ICC) to arrest and prosecute the national guards officers who shot and killed Capitol Hill protesters? This is for the likes of Amnesty International and their collaborators to ponder about.

At this time of our national history, the Nigerian Army under the leadership of Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, has remained committed despite all odds in protecting the territorial integrity of the country and sustaining our nascent democracy, I expect nothing from all and sundry other than support, encouragement and commendation.

Comrade Oladimeji Odeyemi is the Convener of the Coalition of Civil Society Groups Against Terrorism in Nigeria.

By Comrade Oladimeji Odeyemi

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