The judicial panel created by the Lagos State government to probe the October 2020 Lekki shooting incident has approved the reopening of the Lekki tollgate.
The nine-man panel returned the control of the tollgate to the Lekki Concession Company, the operators, on Saturday.
TheNewsGuru recalls that LCC had earlier prayed the panel to allow it to take over the plaza for repair and insurance claims since December 2020.
Details later…
Amnesty International has accused the Nigerian government of covering up those responsible for the shooting of #EndSARS protesters at Alausa and Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos State in October 2020.
The NGO made this allegations in a statement issued 100 days after the Lekki Toll Gate shooting stating that no fewer than 12 protesters died.
TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the Federal Government has consistently denied shooting of protesters by security agencies.
Amnesty International said that instead of the government bringing suspected perpetrators of the Lekki shooting to justice they have subjected supporters of the protest to intimidation.
AI noted that the violent dispersal of peaceful protesters have cast a shadow over Nigerian society that lingers to this day.
The NGO highlighted that since the assault, authorities only targeted supporters of the protest noting that some protesters have had their bank accounts frozen.
AI’s Director in Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, in the statement, demanded justice for victims of the shootings.
“Instead of bringing suspected perpetrators of #Lekki shooting to justice and prioritizing genuine police reforms, Nigerian authorities have been abusing their powers by subjecting those who supported the protests to intimidation, harassment and smear campaigns.
“The bloody events of 20 October 2020, when Nigerian security forces killed at least 12 people during the violent dispersal of peaceful #EndSARS protesters at Lekki and Alausa, have cast a shadow over Nigerian society that lingers to this day.
“Since the assault by security forces, which killed at least 12 people, Nigerian authorities have targeted supporters of the protests against police brutality by the disbanded SARS. Some of the movement’s supporters have had their bank accounts frozen.
“Nigerian government failed to bring to justice those suspected to be responsible for the brutal crackdown by security forces on peaceful #EndSARS protesters at Lekki toll gate and Alausa in Lagos in October 2020 and have brazenly attempted to cover up the violence.
Amnesty International has called on the Nigerian government to suspend accused officials, pending investigations, and to ensure that victims access justice and effective remedies.
The Nigerian Army did not appear at the Lagos State Judicial panel of inquiry into alleged shooting of EndSARS protesters at Lekki because it was petitioned.
The Legal Team representing Nigerian Army at the panel said that the army was only summoned by the panel as part of their fact finding inquiry to unravel the role of army personnel at the scene of the incident.
Leader of the Team, Mr Akinolu Kehinde (SAN), disclosed this while presenting their report on the incidence to the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai, on Monday in Abuja.
Kehinde said that the army witness at the panel, Brig.-Gen. Ahmed Taiwo, successfully presented the army’s side of the story.
“I want it to be clear that at no point in time was the Nigerian army summoned as a respondent. That means that there are no allegations whatsoever was raised against the Nigerian army by any organisation or anybody before the panel.
“The duty of the Nigerian army was to help the panel to throw light on what the army did on the Lekki toll gate saga.
“I want to say without fear of contradiction that at the end of the testimony and cross examination of the Nigerian army’s sole witness, I want to believe that the army was able to explain in detail its involvement in that particular episode.
“The sitting of the panel is still ongoing and it will be unethical for me to comment on what the likely outcome of the recommendation would be,” he said.
Responding, Buratai, represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans (Army), Lt.-Col. Lamidi Adeosun, said that Nigerians should be confident that they have an army that is professional and responsive.
Buratai said that part of the role of Nigerian army was to support the civil authorities in maintaining peace and order.
He expressed confidence that the outcome of the panel’s investigation would help correct some impressions about the army’s role on the Lekki episode.
He also urged the public to see the army in a positive light, adding that it had been professional in the discharge of its constitutional roles.
Also, the Chief of Administration (Army), Maj.-Gen. Usman Yakubu, said the legal team had come up with their report after the panel appearance by army witness at the panel.
He said that the testimony of its witness, Taiwo, had lent credence to the fact that Nigerian army is a professional and responsible organisation.
Yakubu added that the army would continue to be law abiding in discharging its duties.
The Nigerian Army has said that in hindsight, it will not have taken a different line of action if presented again with a scenario similar to the Oct. 20 shooting incident at the Lekki Tollgate.
The Nigerian Army made the assertion on Saturday at the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry for Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters.
Representing the Army was Brig.-Gen. Ahmed Taiwo, Commander of the 81 Division, Military Intelligence Brigade, Victoria Island.
He made the assertion while being cross-examined by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
“Given the same set of circumstances, the military would have acted in the same way. After every operation we usually do an After Action Review and come up with lessons learnt.
“I have looked at the tollgate issue with the same set of facts. We wouldn’t have acted differently,” he said.
Responding to questions from Mr Bernard Oniga, the lawyer representing the NBA, the witness explained why the army did not take the alternative route which avoided the tollgate if they were clearing up the Eti-Osa corridor as claimed.
“The discretion was at the hands of the commander, they were attacked by hoodlums and they responded,” he said.
Taiwo also denied that the actions of the military at the Lekki Tollgate triggered the wanton destruction of properties and loss of lives in Lagos.
“There was wanton loss of life and destruction of properties before the Lekki Tollgate incident. The loss of lives on Oct. 21 was on the Eti-Osa corridor and the loss of life were cult boys settling scores.
‘I saw businesses being torched, some plazas were torched while some were left. I do not know the connection between that and the Lekki Tollgate plaza.
“If they were reacting to the Nigerian Army they could have burned down an army barracks,” he said.
The Nigerian Army deployed no fewer than seven military trucks to the Lekki Tollgate on the evening of Oct. 20, the day unarmed #EndSARS protesters were allegedly shot by the military.
This was revealed by CCTV footage of the incident which was played by the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry for Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters.
The footage was played on Saturday prior to the cross-examination of Brig.-Gen. Ahmed Taiwo, Commander of the 81 Division, Military Intelligence Brigade, Victoria Island.
The footage was played before a packed audience at the panel, and the timestamp in the video showed people running from the vicinity of Oriental Hotel towards the direction of the tollgate in the Lekki area at 6.43pm.
At 6.45pm, the military arrived and at least seven trucks are seen in the footage.
At 6.53pm, lights appeared to have been turned off at the tollgate facility and the footage began playing in a blurry black and white video.
At 6.55pm, the military drove through the tollgate and at 6.57pm, flashes of gunfire could be seen in the footage.
At 7.09pm, the protesters appeared to be surrounded on all sides by the military vehicles which had flashing lights.
Earlier during proceedings, the Chairman of the panel, retired Justice Doris Okuwobi, had noted that during the hearing of Nov. 6, 20-hours worth of footage presented by the Lekki Concession company (LCC) was given to Mr Adeshina Ogunlana, the lawyer for the #EndSARS protesters.
Okuwobi noted that the lawyer had on that day informed the panel that he would sift through the footage and select the portions that would be relevant to his case.
Responding, Ogunlana told the panel that he had watched the footage and had noted the parts of the video that are of interest to him.
“LCC has furnished us with the footage and we have taken our time to reach out to the counsel of LCC and the Lagos State Government.
“We agreed that subject to their acceptance, all we watched is the same until 5pm and we should limit viewing from 5pm to 7.59pm when the tape ended,” Ogunlana said.
The counsel for LASG, Mr Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN) aligned his views with Ogunlana’s submission.
“The relevant portions of the footage which is from 5pm to 7.59pm should be viewed,” he said.
An investigation by the Cable News Network (CNN) team has shed more light on the alleged killing of peaceful #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Toll Plaza in Lagos last month by Nigerian authorities.
On October 20, 2020, some soldiers opened fire on young Nigerians seeking an end to police brutality but the Lagos State government, headed by Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, initially claimed no one was killed. He later admitted that only two fatalities were recorded. This was when he spoke with CNN.
Evidence shows that live rounds were fired on peaceful protesters in Lagos, Nigeria – despite the army’s continued claims that they fired in the air and only used blanks. See the CNN investigation that refutes authorities’ shifting claims. https://t.co/TFvUi7bPXp
— CNN (@CNN) November 18, 2020
On its part, the Nigerian Army first described the alleged shooting by its men as fake news. It later said soldiers were at the scene of the incident but only shot blank bullets into the air.
A Nigerian celebrity known as DJ Switch streamed the incident live on her Instagram page on the night the shooting happened, but the army authorities said it could have been photoshopped.
Thereafter, the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami, said there was the possibility of those in army uniform seen in the trending video being hoodlums.
But almost a month after the incident happened, the international news platform has released the outcome of its investigation on the matter, speaking with those involved and their families.
“They pointed their guns at us and they started shooting,” one of the eyewitnesses, Sarah, whose last name was withheld for her safety, told CNN, adding that, “They were shooting in the air, they were shooting at us, they were shooting everywhere.”
According to CNN, from multiple videos, it pieced together a timeline that shows that shooting by the army lasted from 6:43 p.m. until at least 8:24pm.
It was revealed that evidence of bullet casings from the scene match those used by the Nigerian army when shooting live rounds, according to current and former Nigerian military officials and that the casings indicated that they were purchased by the army from Serbia.
Both the Nigerian Army and the Lagos State government declined to react to the CNN investigation as the latter claimed it was waiting for the outcome of the panel it set up to look into the matter.
You can watch the full report HERE
The Lekki Concession Company (LCC) has said it’s Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras at the Lekki Toll Gate Plaza did not capture the shooting of October 20.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Managing Director of LCC, Abayomi Omamuwasan made this disclosure on Tuesday.
He made the disclosure while appearing before the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up to torchlight police brutality in the State.
He informed the panel that the CCTV camera stopped recording at about 8 pm.
He also said the company had three surveillance cameras located at Sandfill, Ikoyi Bridge and one at Chevron.
“The surveillance camera didn’t capture the shooting. It stopped recording around 8pm,” Omamuwasan told the panel.
He added that the fire outbreak at the Ikoyi Bridge affected the CCTV cameras and it stopped recording.
Explaining the reason for the power outage, he insisted that the company complied with the curfew and asked staff to leave in adherence with the directive of the state government.
He added that the company withdrew its staff from the toll gate following the takeover of the toll gate by the protesters.
The Lekki Concession Company (LCC) has released Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage of the Lekki Toll Gate shooting that occurred on October 20, 2020.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Managing Director of LCC, Abayomi Omamuwasan released the CCTV footage alongside other documents important for the prosecution of the shooting to the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Tuesday.
Omamuwasan, who appeared alongside a counsel for the company, Rotimi Seriki, submitted a hard drive to the panel, saying it contained what happened at the toll gate.
Seriki, who tendered the footage to the panel, urged the panel to use its discretion on when to make the content of the hard drive public.
The panel admitted the footage and marked it as ‘Exhibit A’.
The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses & Lekki Toll Gate Incident on Friday visited the Military Hospital at Ikoyi.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports a mild drama ensued for about 30 minutes as soldiers at the hospital tried to deny the panel access to inspect the facility.
One of the soldiers at the gate of the hospital told members of the panel and members of the press present during the inspection tour that, “if you do not leave now, it is going to get dirty”.
The chairman of the panel, Justice Doris Okuwobi (Rtd.) had to retire to her car as other members of the panel continue to press the military personnel for access.
The military personnel eventually caved in and allowed members of the panel access into the facility.
According to Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, a member of the panel, the panel decided to embark on the unscheduled visit to the hospital after receiving confidential information that certain events took place in the hospital on October 20, 2020 when the Lekki Toll Gate shooting happened.
“We are exercising our mandate on behalf of the Governor of Lagos State under the tribunal of inquiry laws.
“We have already inspected the Lekki toll gate today and we decided to pay an unscheduled visit to the mortuary of the Military Hospital because we have confidential information concerning certain events that took place in the hospital here.
“We have reasons to believe that the facility is relevant to our investigation. We don’t want to make any conclusions yet until we have access to that mortuary to inspect it.
“We have a pathologist with us who is here to help us conduct medical examination of bodies we may find in the mortuary,” he said.
However, after a brief tour of the facility members of the panel left without being granted access to the mortuary section of the hospital.
Five bullet shell casings were seen by the Lagos Judicial Panel on Friday at the Lekki Tollgate Plaza, the scene of the alleged Oct. 20 shootings of #EndSARS protesters by officers of the Nigerian Army.
The nine-man Judicial Panel headed by Justice Doris Okuwobi (Rtd) saw the bullet shell casings on Friday during a visit to the scene as part of its investigations into the incident.
Earlier in the day, the panel had left the venue of its sitting at the International Court of Arbitration, Lekki Phase 1, Lagos , to visit the Tollgate plaza scene of the shootings.
Also in attendance were : Mr Abayomi Omomuwa, the Managing Director of the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) and Mr Gbolahan Agboluwaje, the Head of the Legal Department of LCC and the media.
Some five bullet casings were seen on the floor, inside the gutter and the stairs of the Tollgate plaza by people present there.
Omomuwa, during the visit,told the panel that the Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras mounted on a mast at the toll gate area was working during the shootings.
He, however, noted that though the footage of the happenings of Oct. 20 had been captured by the CCTV, it is currently not working due to damage caused by hoodlums during the carnage of Oct. 21.
On the panel’s return to the venue of its proceedings, Justice Okuwobi
said that the panel had made observations and had asked questions at the scene.
She said that subsequent proceedings could not continue because the the Managing Director of the LCC had no legal representation.
She also noted that the panel had not admitted the Oct. 20 footage as evidence and when it is admitted in evidence, it will be played at the proceedings.
The proceedings were adjourned until Nov. 3 for the testimony to be given by the MD of the LCC.