Amnesty Int’l Warns Nigerian Gov’t To Stop Trying To Cover Up The Lekki Massacre

Amnesty International (AI) has warned the Nigerian authorities to stop their attempts at ‘covering up’ the Lekki toll gate massacre as it released a timeline of the shootings which it said follow an “on-the-ground investigation” into the incident.

In the timeline published on Wednesday, October 28, the rights watchdog said it uncovered how soldiers from the Nigerian army’s Bonny camp opened fire on protesters. 

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Recall that the nationwide protests against the now-dissolved police special anti-robbery squad (SARS) had metamorphosed into agitation for improved governance in addition to justice for victims of police brutality. 

On Tuesday, October 20, soldiers opened fire at the protesters converging in Lekki tollgate. While the army initially denied having a hand in the incident, it said on Tuesday that it got involved because the Lagos government invited it to restore order. 

Amnesty International said its investigation “has confirmed that the Nigerian army and police killed peaceful protesters” in Lagos.

“This timeline collates video and photograph footage to confirm that army vehicles left the Bonny Camp – a military base approximately a seven-minute drive from the Lekki Toll Gate at 18:29 local time on 20 October.

“The vehicles are tracked to the Toll Gate. At around 18:45 the Nigerian military opened fire on the protesters.” AI country director in Nigeria, Osai Ojigho, accused the government of attempting to cover up the shooting at the tollgate.

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“What happened at Lekki Toll Gate has all the traits of the Nigerian authorities’ pattern of a cover-up whenever their defence and security forces commit unlawful killings.

“The initial denials of the involvement of soldiers in the shooting was followed by the shameful denial of the loss of lives as a result of the military’s attack against the protests.

“Many people are still missing since the day of the incident, and credible evidence shows that the military prevented ambulances from reaching the severely injured in the aftermath,” Osai said.