United States Senior officials led by the Department of State Counselor, T. Ulrich Brechbühl have met with Nigeria’s Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the Presidential Villa Abuja “to discuss ongoing violence, the importance of allowing citizens to peacefully demonstrate, as well as accountability and justice for victims”
The U.S embassy shared details about the meeting saying “Counselor T. Ulrich Brechbühl met with Nigerian Vice President Yemi Osinbajo today in Abuja, Nigeria as part of a previously scheduled delegation, which included Assistant Secretary Robert Destro and Assistant Secretary Denise Natali, to raise U.S. concerns about the ongoing violence in Nigeria, human rights, religious freedom, and trafficking in persons, and to hear from senior Nigerian Government officials how they are addressing those issues.
“The Counselor expressed the U.S. condemnation of the use of excessive force by military forces who fired on unarmed demonstrators in Lagos. He expressed condolences to the victims of these shootings and urged the government of Nigeria to abide by its commitment to hold those responsible accountable under the law.
“The Vice President and the Counselor noted that the right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression are essential human rights and core democratic principles. Counselor Brechbühl and Vice President Osinbajo emphasized the importance of U.S. and Nigerian collaboration on common goals of improving security cooperation and strengthening economic partnership to foster mutual prosperity”.
The U.S Secretary of State, Mike Pompoe had in a tweet said “The United States strongly condemns incidents of military forces firing on unarmed protestors in Lagos.
“Those involved should be held to account under the law. We extend our condolences to the victims of the violence and their families”, he said.
This was just as the Assistant Secretary for U.S Department of State Bureau of African Affairs, Tibor Nagy insisted “a swift and thorough investigation into the multiple deaths and injuries of all #EndSARS peaceful protestors is needed. The #EndSARS violence and abuses must end now in order for all levels of reform to truly take place”
The United States could take further action after the meeting with Osinbajo if in the coming months no satisfactory action is taken on its demand that those involved in the Lekki Toll Gate killings in Lagos “should be held to account in accordance with Nigerian law”.
(Editor: Omor Bazuaye)
