5 Times The Nigerian Government Denied Lekki Toll Gate Killings
On the 20th of October 2020, at about 7 pm, the Nigerian Army opened fire on peaceful protesters. The #EndSARS protesters who had camped at the Lekki toll gate were against the constant harassment of Nigerian citizens by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). An Instagram Live stream from DJ Switch’s account showed several injured protesters […]
On the 20th of October 2020, at about 7 pm, the Nigerian Army opened fire on peaceful protesters. The #EndSARS protesters who had camped at the Lekki toll gate were against the constant harassment of Nigerian citizens by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
An Instagram Live stream from DJ Switch’s account showed several injured protesters with bullet wounds, as well as others who appeared to have lost their lives. Other videos circulating on the internet showed men in camouflage, suspected to be soldiers of the Nigerian army, shooting sporadically at the unarmed protesters.
However, despite the overwhelming evidence of the events best described as a massacre, the Nigerian government has come out several times to deny the killings. The most recent of these denials is MC Oluomo’s speech at a rally he organised on behalf of the APC presidential candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Addressing the crowd, MC Oluomo asked where the bodies of those shot at were buried, implying that they do not exist.
We made a list of five times the Nigerian government denied the killing of innocent protesters at the Lekki toll gate.
General John Enenche
Renowned and most prominent #LekkiMassacre denier, Gen. John Eneche, on the LP Presidential Campaign Organisation is a blatant disregard for lives lost during #EndSARS.
The tone-deaf composition is at variance with the energy displayed on twitter.
On the 13th of October, the news of Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi appointing retired General John Eneche as a member of his presidential advisory council hit the internet. This announcement was met with pushback from Nigerian youths, who make up a substantial number of Peter Obi supporters.
Enenche, a former director of information and coordinator, Defence Media Operations (DMO), claimed the massacre of #EndSARS protesters on the 20th of October 2020 at Lekki Toll Gate was false. He claimed the videos of the shooting making the rounds on the internet, which captured the moment innocent citizens were attacked, were suspicious and that there was a chance they were photoshopped.
General Eneche’s exact words concerning the incident – “From all the evidence as a general, I will tell you, it might not be true. If you said they’re shooting, where are the empty cases picked up?” He also dismissed the Instagram Live by DJ Switch which showed bullets being removed from the bodies of wounded protesters as photoshopped.
After the release of Peter Obi’s presidential campaign team list, it was discovered General John Eneche was appointed a member of the Presidential Advisory Committee (PAC) representing the North-Central. However, as a result of the pushback from Obidients across social media, Peter Obi assured his supporters that the list would be reviewed in line with the demand for Gen. Eneche to be taken off the list.
On the 9th of October 2020, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo denied the shooting of protesters at the Lekki toll gate at a rally he organised in Lagos to support APC presidential candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu. According to Oluomo, chairman of the Lagos State Parks and Garages management committee, the killings in 2020 could not be linked to Bola Tinubu, despite his son’s alleged connection to the Lekki Concession Company (LCC).
Speaking in Yoruba at the rally, Oluomo’s speech, loosely translated, asked, “Where are the bodies and where are they buried? Do they have relatives in Nigeria? Has Nigeria bribed the mothers of the deceased protesters? Why are their siblings not searching for them, even on social media? Or is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu a Chief of Army Staff or President who will order the killing of protesters at the (Lekki) Tollgate? They’re lying to us, they want to undermine the Yorubas, and everyone should come out. It is a political game. It was Atiku and Obi that conspired to do all those things then.”
Lai Mohammed
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has repeatedly denied the senseless massacre of peaceful protesters at the Lekki toll gate on the 20th of October 2020. He suggested that DJ Switch was acting out a script written by other people and claimed in due time she would be exposed. He also described the shooting as a “massacre without bodies,” insisting that not one family had come out to say their family members were killed at Lekki tollgate.
“Where are the families of those who were reportedly killed at the toll gate? Did they show up at the Judicial Panel of Inquiry? If not, why?” – Lai Mohammed
Mohammed at the time said, “One of the purveyors of fake news was one DJ Switch whose real name is Obianuju Catherine Udeh, even though she claimed authentic evidence of mass killings. Surprisingly, instead of presenting whatever evidence she may have, she chose to escape from the country on the claim that her life was in danger. In danger for who?”
The minister also claimed that the Cable News Network CNN was desperate and peddling fake news after they released a report which showed that the Nigerian Army truly fired live and blank bullets at protesters at the Lekki toll gate. He called the report “irresponsible journalism,” and called for the sanction of the news network.
In his words, “What we are asking CNN is that where is your evidence? The military has been consistent. CNN contravenes the basic principles of journalism – fairness, and balance. They did the story without contacting the federal government for its side. They relied on second and third parties’ narratives.” He also claimed that CNN doctored the video released along with the report and that the video was fake because it was sourced on social media.
A year after the incident, on October 20, 2021, Lai Mohammed described the Lekki toll gate shooting as a “phantom massacre” while addressing a press conference. He said, “Today marks the first anniversary of the phantom massacre at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, which was the culmination of an otherwise peaceful protest that was later hijacked by hoodlums. At earlier press conferences, I had called the reported massacre at the toll gate the first massacre in the world without blood or bodies. One year later, and despite ample opportunities for the families of those allegedly killed and those alleging a massacre to present evidence, there has been none: No bodies, no families, no convincing evidence, nothing.”
Sanwo-Olu
On the morning after the Lekki toll gate, Lagos state governor Sanwo-Olu released a statement saying the murder of #EndSARS was carried out by forces beyond his control. “This is the toughest night of our lives as forces beyond our direct control have moved to make dark notes in our history, but we will face it and come out stronger,” a statement on Sanwo-Olu’s official Twitter read in part.
He went on to say he did not know who deployed the soldiers who shot at protesters, saying he could not explain who gave the orders. “The event that happened at 7 pm came as a total shock to me and those around me. The instructions were that the police shouldn’t be out until 10 to 11 pm. I can’t explain who gave orders to the military,” Sanwo-Olu said.
The Lagos state governor admitted that several protesters were wounded by the soldiers but claimed only two protesters sustained injuries that required surgery. According to him, three victims were discharged from the hospital where they received treatment and there were no casualties from the toll gate shooting. “As at the time of the broadcast, we didn’t have any confirmed deaths from that unfortunate incident at Lekki Toll Plaza,” Sanwo-Olu declared in an Arise television interview.
General Tukur Buratai
In the aftermath of the Lekki toll gate shootings, former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai maintained that there was no corpse at the Lekki toll gate, meaning nobody was killed during the #EndSARS protest. He went ahead to say that those claiming protesters were seeing double.
At the time, Lt. Gen. Buratai said, “I must say that the Spiritual Warfare Seminar we had last time, helped us during the last #EndSARS protest to the extent that there was no single corpse, but some persons were seeing double at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos State.”
Lt. Gen. Buratai maintained that the Nigerian Army carried out their duties professionally and kept to the rules of engagement in how they handled the #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki toll gate on the 20th of October, 2020.
