Sanwo-Olu uses soldiers for dirty jobs but disgraces them in public - Officer

A Nigerian soldier has accused Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos state of using soldiers to execute dirty jobs but turn to disgrace them in the public.

Mr Sanwo-Olu had on Tuesday ordered the arrest of a solider driving against traffic at Lagos-Badagry Expressway, threatening to lock the soldier up while calling him “useless.”

However, Mr Sanwo-Olu’s statement did not go down well with another soldier who talked back at the governor in a viral video on X, revealing that the governor usually deploys soldiers to do dirty jobs.

“Calling a soldier useless? And you call yourself the governor but you are misbehaving up and down. Who are you, Governor Sanwo-Olu? When you want to do your dirty job, you will call soldiers. Go and check the Ojo Road, is it good?” the soldier said.

Peoples Gazette called Gboyega Akosile, spokesperson for Mr Sanwo-Olu, to get comments on the soldier’s claim. However, Mr Akosile did not pick up calls. A WhatsApp message sent to him was delivered and read, but no response was given as of the time of filing this story.

Though the soldier did not specifically mention which dirty job Mr Sanwo-Olu usually deploys soldiers to do, it could be recalled that Nigerian soldiers rained live bullets on EndSARS protesters at Lekki Tollgate on October 20, 2020.

A judicial panel set up by Lagos State confirmed that Nigerian solider “shot, injured and killed unarmed helpless and defenceless protesters, without provocation or justification, while they were waving the Nigerian flag and singing the national anthem” at Lekki Tollgate. However, the state government led by Mr Sanwo-Olu rejected the report and its recommendations.

In July 2023, a memo revealing plans by the Lagos Government to secretly conduct mass burial for 103 EndSARS massacre victims was leaked, sparking widespread criticism of Mr Sanwo-Olu, former president Muhammadu Buhari and former chief of army staff Tukur Buratai.

Though Mr Sanwo-Olu had earlier denied there was no massacre during the EndSARS protest, he said the 103 bodies of #EndSARS massacre victims were picked on the streets of Lagos, blaming families of the deceased for abandoning the bodies of their loved ones for the state for nearly three years.