Sanwo-Olu: Army responsible for Lekki shooting

Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, says the footage of the shooting at Lekki toll gate shows the Nigerian Army is responsible for the incident.

On Tuesday, men in army uniform stormed the toll gate where #EndSARS protesters had gathered for 13 days and dispersed them with bullets.

The incident triggered an outrage, even in the international community.

The army had denied being responsible while the federal government said it would investigate the tragic incident.

Speaking with CNN on Monday, Sanwo-Olu said the CCTV footage would be made available to the state judicial panel probing brutality of security operatives.

“We will be committed to a full investigation of what happened and people would be held accountable. They certainly would be held accountable. We would do everything possible to ensure that they are held accountable,” he said.

“People have claimed that their friends and family members have been killed. So, this Judicial Panel of Enquiry is meant to bring all of these stories to accountability; where we can make restitutions, where families can prove and identify officers that were responsible for this.

“I am not the commander-in-chief of the armed forces; I am governor of a state. The report would be out and we would channel the report to all the relevant authorities in the state to ensure that every one that is found culpable is accountable for the act.

“From the footage we could see, because there were some cameras at that facility, it seems to me that they would be men in military uniform—it should be Nigerian Army or something.”

Asked if he meant the military opened fire on protesters, Sanwo-Olu said: “Yes. That’s what the footage showed.”

He also said it is untrue that pressure from the international community made President Muhammadu Buhari to speak about the incident.

Buhari had refused to address the nation when the protests began and when he finally did, he refused to comment on the Lekki killings.

The governor said he believes that the #EndSARS campaign yielded positive results.

“There is no international pressures whatsoever. These are genuine protesters that we all believe and we all have knowledge about,” he said.

“I was the first governor among governors with due respect to all my other colleagues who came out to meet with them, who started from the front. I carried the EndSARS flags with them. I met with them twice and we all had the rally together and walked together.

“I genuinely believe there would be change for two reasons. One, what has happened, especially in Lagos is extremely unimaginable. Number two is that it was a clarion call for all of us in government, especially understanding and realising what the youths truly want us to be doing. So, it hit all of us like a thunderbolt and it was just a wake-up call.”