Emerging report indicated that the national leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, may have departed France for London, the United Kingdom (UK) on Wednesday. He was gathered to have left Nigeria in the early hours of Wednesday as tension was rising over the Tuesday night onslaught of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos. Some angry youths accused Tinubu of masterminding the military killing of the peaceful protesting youths in Lagos, alleging that he did that because of the revenue he had lost at the toll gate for the weeks the youths had blocked the scene.
Tinubu, however, debunked the accusations, saying that the youths were being fed with lies against him. The APC national leader stated that revenue lost at the toll is not enough reason for anybody to kill the protesting youths.
Tinubu also said that he is not the Commander-In-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Force, a position currently held by President Muhammadu Buhari, adding that, therefore, he has no authority to deploy soldiers.
There were innuendoes earlier on Wednesday that Nigerians resident in France were in search of the hotel Tinubu was staying in France. They were said to have identified the location, finding out that the former Lagos Sate governor was staying in a hotel around Charles de Gaulle area but were in search of the particular hotel.
Some hoodlums were on Wednesday identified to have hijacked the peaceful protest after killings by security operatives across the country, expressing their anger by burning police stations and public institutions. In Lagos, businesses linked to Tinubu were targeted for attacks and destruction. Some of the businesses include the Television Continental (TVC), Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, etc. the Lekki Toll Gate was set on fire immediately after the military onslaught on Tuesday night.
Some other public institutions were also set on fire, including the family home of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, the BRT buses in the state, among others.
There have been wide condemnation of the military onslaught, including demands for justice.