Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has explained that he shelved the Lagos peace walk planned for this month to prevent the spread of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant which has been recorded in Nigeria.
The governor, in an address on November 30, 2021, had invited some known faces of the EndSARS protest in the state in October 2020 to a peace walk for “the healing of Lagos” this December.
Those invited include Folarin Falana (Falz), Debo Adebayo (Mr. Marcaroni), Dele Farotimi, Temitope Majekodunmi, Segun Awosanya (Segalink), Adedotun (Just Detoun), Seun Kuti, Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu; and Commander of Rapid Response Squad (RRS), CSP Yinka Egbeyemi, amongst others.
But Falz, Mr Macaroni, the younger Kuti, amongst some arrowheads of the protest, had rejected the invitation, saying there must be justice for EndSARS victims before peace.
This is as some other youth groups declared support for the governor, saying they would walk with him.
However, in a statement on Thursday, Sanwo-Olu said he is “constrained to stand down all preparations for the Walk for Peace” so as not to “endanger the life of any Lagosian” amid the outbreak of the Omicron COVID-19 variant.
The Omicron variant first detected in South Africa has been confirmed in over 50 countries including Nigeria though no associated death has been recorded globally. Many countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, and European nations have since slammed travel restrictions on African countries, a move that has been widely criticised as discriminatory.
