Following reports that the police agents on Thursday morning fired teargas at Lekki toll-gate as a memorial procession took place, the spokesperson of the Lagos state police command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, has said the teargas canisters were fired because some of the Nigerians staging the memorial walk decided to be lawless and started mounting the toll complex.
He explained that this was an action that threatened the existing law and order in the area and so teargas canisters were fired to disperse them.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that some Nigerians including celebrities like Nigerian rapper, Folarin Falana, aka Falz, and actor Mr. Macaroni, staged a memorial walk along the tollgate this morning to mark the day.
Remember that the drive/walk-through procession was announced by Falz on his Instagram page on Wednesday.
However, pandemonium broke when tear gas canisters were fired as well as water canons by the police.
According to a flier shared by Falz, the procession will mirror the first anniversary, where citizens drove, and walked through the tollgate to remember the victims. Part of the banner read, “#EndSARS Memorial 2.0 procession.”
In memory of those who were killed on October 20, 2022, and those we have lost to police brutality, we will walk and drive through the toll gate, blast horns, sing and chat in unison through the toll gate, and wave our flags.”
Recall that CNN’s investigation had revealed the Nigerian army fired live rounds into crowds at Lekki toll gate, killing and wounding several people.
At least 46 unarmed protesters were either shot dead, injured with bullets, or assaulted by security forces at the Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020, the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and other matters has said.
In its 309-page report – ‘Report Of Lekki Incident Investigation Of 20th October 2020’, presented to the Lagos governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday, the panel said soldiers shot live ammunition at armless protesters intending to kill and maim them.
The nine deceased persons mentioned in the report are Victor Ibanga, Abuta Solomon, Jide, Olalekan Ashafa, Olamilekan Ajasa, Kolade Salami, Folorunsho Olabisi, Kenechukwu Ugoh, and Nathaniel Solomon.
The report described Abiodun Adesanya, Ifeanyi Eji, Tola, and Wisdom as “missing and presumed dead.” It stated that 22 sustained gunshot injuries and 11 were assaulted by military officers.
The report said that officers and soldiers of 65 Batallion of the Nigerian Army, “led by Lt. Col Bello, left their base with blank and live ammunitions to confront and disperse youths holding only their national flags, with live bullets,” the report partly reads.
“The soldiers actually shot blank and live bullets directly and pointedly into the midst of the protesters at the Lekki Tollgate, with the deliberate intention to assault, maim and kill.”
“The soldiers turned back ambulances that were invited to render first aid and assistance to the wounded protesters.”
The Doris Okuwobi-led panel in the report said the “atrocious maiming and killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters while sitting on the floor and waving their Nigerian flags while singing the National Anthem can be equated to a ‘massacre’ in context.”
See teargassing moment video below:
Have you guys seen??? They have started again pic.twitter.com/3yAFmqDcV0
— Tega Dominic (@_TegaDominic) October 20, 2022