Former presidential media aide and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, has condemned the alleged attack on President Bola Tinubu’s convoy by some Muslim youths in Abuja.
Reports emerged on Friday night that some worshippers at the newly renovated Shehu Shagari Central Mosque in Abuja allegedly threw stones at the president’s convoy shortly after Friday prayers.
A video showing some youths booing Tinubu and chanting rejection slogans as his convoy departed the mosque has since gone viral on social media, despite attempts by the Presidency to dismiss reports of an attack.
Reacting in a statement issued on Saturday, Ojudu condemned the growing wave of political violence across the country, warning that Nigeria was bleeding.
He called for a transparent and thorough investigation into reports that stones were thrown at the president’s convoy.
Ojudu also expressed concern over the attack on supporters of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, during a political gathering in Lagos on Thursday.
He said the incidents, though different in their circumstances, reflected a dangerous trend that required urgent national attention.
The statement partly reads: “Nigeria is bleeding. At a time of hardship, insecurity and deepening public frustration, our politics is becoming dangerously combustible. Political meetings are attacked, campaign vehicles burnt, billboards destroyed, and citizens threatened for their choices.
“Every incident invites another grievance, another accusation, another promise of retaliation. We must act before the scattered fires become a national conflagration.
“Reports that stones were thrown at the convoy have been disputed by presidential aides, notwithstanding several video clips circulating. This requires transparent investigation.
“Let us be clear: citizens have the right to reject a president politically, voice their grievances, and campaign against his re-election. Peaceful dissent is a democratic right.
“Throwing stones at anyone, including the President, is violence. Equally, citizens attending an opposition meeting are exercising a constitutional freedom. Attacking them is an assault on that freedom. Neither public anger nor party loyalty confers a licence to injure.
“The President must be safe among the people he governs. The people must be safe when they disagree with him.
“That is the democratic standard we must defend together.”
