Billionaire philanthropist, Mo Ibrahim has taken a swipe at the Federal Government of Nigeria for its a crackdown on unarmed civilians during #EndSARS protest.
Speaking to the AFP, the Sudanese-British businessman wondered why brute force was deployed by the Federal Government in handling a protest that spilt into wider calls for better governance.
“I really don’t understand why the government needed to attack peaceful demonstrators,” said the billionaire who made his fortune in Telecoms.
“This is what bothers me, this closing of space, of civil society. The right of people to stand up and say their views is a sacred right, and that was totally unacceptable,” he added.
Mr. Ibrahim who was speaking after his foundation suggested that governance progress had slowed across Africa for the first time in a decade, said Nigeria’s authorities had deliberately conflated peaceful protests with looters, instead of seeing them as two separate events.
He also noted that civilians have an inalienable right to speech and must be listened to by governments, especially as Africa’s better-connected youths are increasingly questioning their ageing leaders.
