The Commander of 81 Military Intelligence Brigade, Victoria Island, Lagos, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Taiwo, on Saturday, said the Nigerian Army was not happy that the Governor of Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, denied inviting the military on October 20, 2020, during the EndSARS protest at Lekki Toll Gate.
The Army commander during his testimony before the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the EndSARS protest and the Lekki incident said inviting the military was the best decision the Lagos governor could have taken as the #EndSARS protest plunged the state into anarchy but added that the Army was also unhappy that Sanwo-Olu said two persons died from the military engagement at the Lekki tollgate.
Taiwo said, “I spoke with the governor and said the Army was unhappy that he said he did not ask for Army’s intervention but I am sure that after you watched everything (video footages), you saw he had more than enough grounds to ask for Army’s intervention; perhaps it was the way everything went.”
The latest is coming a few days after the governor himself appeared in an interview with Becky Anderson of CNN, where he said he had reviewed the CCTV footage and was sure men in military uniform fired shots at the peaceful protesters on October 20.
Mr Sanwo-Olu said “from the footage that we could see, because there are cameras at that facility, it seems to be that they would be men in military uniform who should be Nigerian army or something.”
The state governor in that interview, had said there will be an investigation into the Lekki shooting and he hopes anyone found culpable will be held accountable.
“We will be committed to a full investigation of what happened and people would be held accountable. They certainly would be held accountable. We would do everything possible to ensure that they are held accountable,” he said.
He said the CCTV footage will be made available to the judicial panel to investigate the incident.
The Lekki toll gate shooting which has been condemned by many Nigerians and the international community including the U.S. government where at least two people have been confirmed dead from the shooting with witnesses saying over a dozen people were killed, is still being investigated.