Lekki Shooting: 24 Hours After Army Claims Sanwo-Olu Invited Soldiers, Governor Yet To Respond

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has yet to utter a word about 24 hours after the Nigerian Army accused him of inviting soldiers to the Lekki toll gate where several unarmed #EndSARS protesters were allegedly killed and injured on October 20. 

The 81 Division of the Nigerian Army had implicated Governor Sanwo-Olu in the controversial shooting of peaceful protesters at the toll gate where an undetermined number of demonstrators were said to have been killed.

The Nigerian Army, which had previously denied the presence of soldiers at the scene of the shooting, admitted on Tuesday that some soldiers from the 81 Division helped to quell the protests at the Lekki toll gate on the request of Governor Sanwo-Olu. 

The spokesperson of the army division, Major Osoba Olaniyi, however, said the soldiers did not shoot at the protesters as widely reported. 

“The decision to call in the military was taken by the Lagos State Government after a 24 hours curfew was imposed,” Olaniyi had said, adding that, “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.”

Meanwhile, Governor Sanwo-Olu, who in different interviews had distanced himself from the deployment of troops to the Lekki toll gate, has maintained silence about 24 hours after the army’s revelation. 

Checks on the governor’s official social media handles as well as those of his media aides showed that the governor has yet to confirm or deny the army’s claim.

He had said in an interview with Arise News, “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.”

Similarly, the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former Lagos State governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had also denied having a hand in the deployment of soldiers to the protest ground.