National leader of the All Progressives Congress Bola Tinubu has debunked rumour that he fled Nigeria for France in the heat of the violence that followed the hijack of #EndSARS protest by hoodlums.
Tinubu spoke on Saturday during a visit to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu at the Lagos House in Marina.
“I didn ’t go nowhere, I’m a Lagosian. I still hold the title of the Asiwaju of Lagos. I’m still the Jagaban. Fake news is all over the place. They said Seyi my son was kidnapped, but he’s here with me and I didn’t pay any money to bring him here,” he said.
Tinubu also said he could not understand the rationale behind the looting, arson, invasion of police stations, stealing of arms and maiming of innocent persons that characterised the state for days.
The former Lagos governor said he came to personally ask Mr Sanwo-Olu if he ordered the attack on protesters at Lekki toll gate on Tuesday.
“I came to ask him pointedly; did he order the attack, or if he didn’t order the attack, who ordered it? Was it to his knowledge that people were attacked? That was all I needed from him,” he said.
When asked the way forward, Tinubu said since the government had already set up a judicial panel of enquiry to investigate the allegations of human right abuses by officers of the now disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, people who suffered casualty during the gunshot Lekki incident should volunteer information to the government.
“Those who suffered casualty during the gunshots need to answer some questions too. How were they there? How long were they there? What kind of characters are they? Even those we want to help, we still must extract information that would help the government to prepare in future or understand how and when to react,” he said.
Tinubu added that the government showed sensitivity in listening to the protesters and taking actions.