General News of Wednesday, 21 October 2020

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

#ENDSARS: Consultations ongoing between Akufo-Addo and Nigerian govt – MP

President Nana Akufo-Addo President Nana Akufo-Addo

The President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo is in consultations with the Nigerian government to find solutions to the #ENDSARS protests in Nigeria, Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of Parliament, Frank Annoh-Dompreh has revealed.

The #ENDSARS protests by Nigerian youth to bring an end to police brutality turned bloody Tuesday, October 20, 2020, when personnel from the national security service opened fire on demonstrators.

The silence of President Akufo-Addo has generated a lot of talk in the country with many questioning if the president was on top of his position as ECOWAS Chair.

However, Mr. Annoh-Dompreh believes the issue at hand is weighty hence Ghanaians must be patient with their calls to President Akufo-Addo to speak on the matter.

According to him, the president is engaging in meetings with the Nigerian government behind closed doors.

“The calls on President Akufo-Addo to speak is a reasonable call but however, significantly, I must admit that other things are being done behind the scene that is not known necessarily and hence because I am privileged to know all the things that are being done, I can say that, there are a lot of consultations ongoing. It is about speaking which will elicit the necessary feedback and ultimately lead to the resolution of the matter", Frank Annoh-Dompreh told Citi News.

He added, “So I think that we should hasten with caution. Ghanaians shouldn’t forget the leadership President Akufo-Addo showed during the Mali crisis. But the situations are different, and so we all have to be patient until it is appropriate for him to speak. And let’s all pray for the good people of Nigeria.”

He also noted the situation has not escalated to the part that Ghanaians in Nigeria will be repatriated back home.

“But I agree that, in the interim, the Nigerian leadership would also have to exercise caution especially in warding off protesters and controlling them. I cannot confirm any steps in terms of the evacuation of Ghanaians in the country but what I know is that we are in touch with our mission in Abuja and discussions are ongoing, but we should all be worried about the lives being lost and as Ghanaians and sub-regional body, we pray that other leaders of the sub-region will listen to him and give logic for this matter to be resolved,” he said.