Army Implicates Sanwo-Olu, Says Gov Invited Soldiers On Protesters At Lekki

Barely six days after denying the presence of soldiers at the scene of the recent Lekki shooting, the Nigerian Army has claimed that its soldiers were invited to quell the #EndSARS protests by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

Despite several video evidence showing that the unarmed #EndSARS protesters were shot, the army said the soldiers did not fire at the demonstrators.

The 81 Division of the Nigerian Army, which had been previously linked to the shooting incident, admitted that its soldiers were deployed to the Lekki toll gate, but denied killing or shooting at the peaceful protesters.

The spokesperson of the Lagos-based army division, Major Osoba Olaniyi, made the revelation in a statement on Tuesday.

The statement came barely 24 hours after Governor Sanwo-Olu told CNN that Nigerian soldiers were behind the shooting and promised to make CCTV footage of the incident available to an investigative panel in the state.

“The decision to call in the military was taken by the Lagos State Government after a 24 hours curfew was imposed.

“This was as a result of the violence which led to several police stations being burnt, policemen killed, suspects in police custody released and weapons carted away.

“The situation was fast degenerating into anarchy. It was at this point that LASG requested for the military to intervene in order to restore normalcy,” said Olaniyi.

He added that, “The intervention of the military followed all laid down procedures for internal security operations and all the soldiers involved acted within the confines of the Rules of Engagement for Internal Security operations.”

Olaniyi contradicted Governor Sanwo-Olu, who had said last week that: “The unfortunate incident two days ago…It’s not me, it doesn’t define my person, it is not what I stand for, it is not what I believe in.”

THE WHISTLER recalls that the alleged shooting incident followed two-week-long demonstrations against police brutality, alleged extra-judicial killings and rights abuses by operatives of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force.

The Lagos State Government had since set up a judicial panel of inquiry headed by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi to investigate petitions against police officers and the recent Lekki shooting incident.