THE Nigeria Defence has said that the shooting that occurred at the Lekki Toll gate, Lagos State on Tuesday, October 20 may not be true.
John Enenche, the Coordinator, Defence Media Operations said this while addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday over military involvement in the shooting.
“I will say that for now, don’t take any response from me that yes we did it or no, but from what I can see, from all the evidence, as a general, I will tell you that it may not be true,” said Eneche.
Enenche added that Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos state has set up an investigative panel into
Speaking about the operatives that were at the scene of the shooting, Enenche sad that the Operation MESA does not only consist of the Nigerian Army rather it includes the Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as well as the Nigeria Air Force.
“These operations are still up and running and I am aware that various state governments are using them in all these capacity that is internal security, the level we are now is internal security and that is why the police proactively came out and then deployed all their force package that is necessary to handle the situation,” he further stated.
He stated that from the analysis of videos from social media, the shooting and killing did not happen.
“So if there was anything if it is true, why am I saying this, because up till this morning before I came here, we even got analysts, people that have analyzed the various videos that were photoshopped put together… If not because I am not permitted, I would have forwarded it to you… People who we took it to, they have done their analysis and conclusively they have said, according to them, not me, it is a lie,” Enenche further stated.
He urged Nigerians to be patient and allow the authorities to handle the situation but he is not permitted to respond to it.
“It is good for us to be patient in a situation like this, and let us allow the appropriate segment of the society to handle the issue so the issue is not an operation that I will respond permissively and tell you this is that but from what,” he noted.
But several media reports have shown with evidence that shooting took place, and many casualties were recorded. Governor Sanwo-Olu visited some of the victims in the hospitals where they were taken. Though he did not confirm there was a massacre, he admitted that death occurred.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via [email protected], on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94