Lekki shooting: We weren’t informed of change in curfew time, says army

Ahmed Taiwo, an officer of the Nigerian Army, says the military was not informed of the change in time of the curfew in Lagos before soldiers were deployed in the Lekki tollgate on October 20, 2020.

Taiwo spoke when he appeared before the Lagos panel on Saturday.

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos, had announced a 24-hour curfew on October 20, earlier scheduled to begin at 4pm. However, the time was changed to 9pm afterwards.

But at a few minutes before 7pm, men in army uniform arrived the Lekki tollgate where #EndSARS protesters had gathered and forcefully dispersed the protesters.

Giving an explanation of what happened at the Lekki tollgate on October 20, Taiwo maintained that Sanwo-Olu invited the army to restore order after the #EndSARS protests degenerated into crisis.

“The situation was so dire and they wanted everyone off the streets. If you like, sleep in your office; if you like, stay at home if you are near your house, but get off the streets and let us deal with the criminals and hooligans,” Taiwo said.

“After some observation, this timing was shifted to 2100 hours, that is 9pm. However, this timing was not communicated to the Nigerian Army.

“Be that as it may, the Nigerian army deployed immediately to forestall further violence and loss of lives.”