Contrary to the claim of the Lagos State government and the Nigerian Army that nobody was killed by soldiers during the Endsars protest at Lekki toll gate on October 20, an investigation by the premium Times has revealed that soldiers and policemen shot at the peaceful protesters and killed many youths.
Through pictorial and video evidence including eyewitness accounts, the newspaper established the fact that many lives were lost through gunshots, while many others sustained gun wounds.
One of the victims is an unidentified man whose body was found about two kilometres away from the Lekki toll gate.
According to the residents of the riverine community, the corpse was found at Admiralty Way, Lekki Phase 1, floating on the lagoon just behind their houses.
Sources told the Premium Times reporters that the dead body could be one of the victims of the alleged killing at Lekki toll gate.
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“The corpse was that of a man. It was already swollen and decomposing. It was shoe-less. The dead man was wearing blue denim jeans trousers and a flimsy white singlet. It also had a rubber band on its left wrist. The man seems to be slightly bearded, but it was hard to tell as a swarm of flies was already gathered around his decomposing face,” the Investigation revealed.
Eyewitnesses said they saw soldiers taking away bodies from the scene after they had been shot dead.
One of the residents said he saw the soldiers pack about 12 to 13 dead bodies from the shooting that evening.
They also confirmed that police officers arrived the scene of the incident and killed some of the protesters immediately after the soldiers left.
The residents identified Raji Ganiyu, the Divisional Police Officer of Maroko Division spotting white attire, led some police officers to kill more protesters.
“DPO of Maroko we see am face to face wey e blow one person head pull the skull off. Pistol. E wear white and white,” one of the residents narrated in pidgin English.
Another eyewitness interjected, saying the DPO also fired and shot a mentally-ill man in the head at close range.
Sanwo-Olu, Military and Police lie
During an interview with the Cable News Network (CNN), Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governor of Lagos state had said when he visited the Lekki Tollgate following the attack there was no ‘scratch of blood’ at the scene.
The reporters visited several victims of the attack who sustained gunshots injuries from the scene.
The Nigerian military also said although the soldiers at the scene were invited by the state government, they did not shoot at the protesters.
John Enenche, the Director, Defence Media Operations also said the video footage showing soldiers firing at protesters may not be true.
Adamu Muhammed, the Inspector General of the Police (IGP) also said officers of the police did not shoot at any protester.
The Premium Times’ investigation appears to have put paid to all the inaccurate claims.
Lukman Abolade is an Investigative reporter with The ICIR. Reach out to him via labolade@icirnigeria.org, on twitter @AboladeLAA and FB @Correction94