EndSARS Lekki Tollgate massacre: Shocking findings by Lagos Panel [Pt. 2]

The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters (Lagos EndSARS Panel) has released some shocking discoveries from the Lekki Tollgate shootings of October 20, 2020 as a massacre.

The panel indicted Nigerian soldiers and other security agents in the killing, forced disappearances and injuring of tens of harmless and unarmed youths protesting police brutality at the Lekki Tollgate on October 20, 2020.

Below is part two of a 309-page report submitted to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Monday by the Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel tagged “LASG JPI Report Of The Lekki Incident Investigation Of 20th October 2020:

Read part two of the findings below:

3. Was the protest at Lekki Toll Gate hijacked on the 20th of October, 2020?

A. The Panel finds that although the Army gave copious evidence of general commotion, violence and mayhem in other locations in Lagos State other than Lekki Toll Gate, there is no justification behind the deployment of its soldiers and officers to Lekki Toll Gate in particular, when there was no violence reported there instead of the other critical areas (for example in places like Orile, Mushin, etc.), which indeed escalated the violence.

The deployment of the Army to Lekki Toll Gate on 20/10/2020, in the absence of any reported violence, was totally unwarranted.

B. In trying to justify the deployment of the Army, its principal witness before the Panel, Brigadier-General Taiwo stated that once a protest goes past 2-3 days, it will be hijacked by hoodlums.

The Panel finds that this proposition was not substantiated. The EndSARS protest at Lekki Toll Gate in particular was peaceful and orderly and was not hijacked by hoodlums.

C. The Panel finds that the mayhem and violence recorded in other parts of Lagos State did not happen at the Lekki Toll Gate, so there was no need for any apprehension on the part of the government or the security agencies to seek to dispel that peaceful assembly, with soldiers bearing lethal weapons.

The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as Amended, in section 40 grants the right of assembly and association, freedom of movement in section 41 and freedom of expression in section 39.

There was thus no need for deployment of soldiers to the Lekki Toll Gate to disperse peaceful protesters in flagrant violation of these entrenched fundamental rights.

4. Was the Nigerian Army invited on the 20th of October, 2020?

A. The Panel finds that the ineffectiveness of the Police cannot be a justification for the invitation of the Army to Lagos state and the deployment of the Army to the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20th 2020, for the following reasons, amongst others:

• i. The EndSARS protest at the Lekki Toll Gate was largely peaceful, organized and orderly;
• ii. No single serious or threatening reports of fighting, robbery, attacks, bloodshed or violence emanated from the Lekki Toll Gate before and on the day of the incident of 20th of October 2020;
• iii. The Constitution guarantees to every citizen the right to peaceful protest, which at times may result in civil disobedience;
• iv. Given the number of people gathered at the Lekki Toll Gate, an invitation of the Army to Lagos State and deployment of the Army to disperse such peaceful gathering should not be an option for a government that had already opened up dialogue with the protesters.

B. The Panel finds in the light of all the above that issue of whether or not the Army kept to any particular rules of engagement is immaterial since the invitation of the Army to Lagos state and the deployment of the Army to Lekki Toll Gate in the first place was totally unwarranted.

The Army should on no account be deployed against unarmed civilians how much less youths who are only demanding for respect for their fundamental rights.

5. Did the army come to the toll gate on the 20th October 2020?

A. Yes the Nigerian Army was at the Lekki Toll Gate. Troops were deployed from the 65 Battalion acting under 81 Division Garrison, forming a mobile team to patrol up to Epe, Ibeju Lekki, Sangotedo, Badore and other areas along the lekki/Epe axis on the 20th of October 2020 as asserted in the testimony of Brigadier General Taiwo.

B. The Panel finds that the particular troop that visited the Lekki Toll Gate was from the 65 Battalion under the 81 Division Garrison led by Lt Col. Bello.

C. The Panel finds that General Taiwo contradicted himself when he stated that the protesters were pelting soldiers with stones and bottles (page 6) when at the same time he said the same troops gave the protesters drinks and he could not substantiate this allegation in the video he presented when he was cross-examined on the point.

D. From his testimony and under cross-examination, the Panel finds that General Taiwo was not present at the Lekki Toll Gate at the time of the incident of October 20, which he claimed to have monitored on the internet.

Panel therefore takes his testimony as limited to the operational guides of the deployment and the origin of the invitation of the soldiers by the Lagos State Government.

To be continued…

Read part one here:

#EndSARS Lekki Tollgate massacre: Shocking revelations by Lagos Panel [Pt. 1]