The Nigerian Army on Saturday publicly gave a blow-by-blow account of its own version of the events surrounding the October 20 shooting at the Lekki Toll gate, Lagos, and declared that no one was felled by bullets fired by its men.
The army said soldiers deployed to the scene used blank bullets containing only gunpowder.
It denied shooting at or killing anyone at the scene, whether with blanks or live ammunition, contrary to claims by several petitioners and protesters.
Some #ENDSARS protesters and human rights groups had claimed that soldiers killed and carted away bodies of several protesters.
But the Commander of 81 Military Intelligence Brigade, Victoria Island, Lagos, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Taiwo, who represented the army at the resumed sitting of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on SARS Abuse on Saturday, said if the soldiers had used lethal bullets, each one would have killed at least three persons.
The resumption of sitting by the panel yesterday followed the return of the two youth panel members, Rinu Oduala and Temitope Majekodunmi, who abstained last week in protest against the freezing of the bank account of #ENDSARS promoters by the Federal Government through the Central Bank of Nigeria.
The retired Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel had adjourned on November 7 when its proceedings were frustrated over inability to form quorum owing to the boycott of the sitting by the two youth panel members.
Brigadier General Taiwo who testified with the aid of videos said the deployment of soldiers to the scene followed the Army’s approval of a request by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State.
He said the #EndSARS protests plunged Lagos State into anarchy, with statewide incidents of burning of police stations, looting of arms and ammunition, killing of policemen, blockage of roads and extortion of money from innocent citizens by hoodlums.
According to him, Sanwo-Olu’s decision to invite the military was the best one.
One of the several videos presented by Taiwo was that of a mob that attacked the Orile Police Station, beating a policeman to death.
Another was of a mob that killed someone, set the body ablaze and hoodlums talking about sharing of the burnt body parts.
He said the anarchy was reminiscent of the Liberian war.
He said: “These scenes are reminiscent of the Liberian Civil War when the fighters believed that once they consumed human body parts, they would be fortified, they would be strong.
“It was these incidents that made the Governor of Lagos State ask for military intervention, and in my opinion, that was the correct thing to do since the police had been overrun and policemen were fighting for their dear lives.”
He told the Retired Justice Dorris Okuwobi-led panel that it deployed soldiers across Lagos State and not just at Lekki.
Taiwo also expressed shock over Governor Sanwo-Olu’s denial of inviting the military for intervention to quell the violence.
He said: “It was the governor that called Nigeria Army for intervention. I spoke with the governor that the Army was unhappy that he said we were not asked to intervene.
“Perhaps it was the way everything went that made him (Sanwo-Olu) to say so. That afternoon, the governor had called the Chief of Army Staff and GOC commanding 81 Division.”
Taiwo added that the governor had called the Chief of Army Staff following which 81 division of Nigeria Army was ordered into phase four of Internal Security Operation before 4pm on October 20, 2020.
He claimed that the change in timing of the curfew imposed by the Lagos State Government on October 20, 2020 was not communicated to the Nigerian Army.
His words: “Due to the urgency of the situation, it is no wonder the governor declared a 24-hour curfew which was supposed to start by 4pm.
“Analyzing that further, it shows that the situation was so dire and the governor wanted everyone off the streets.
“After some observations, this timing was shifted to 2100 hrs, that is 9pm.
“However, these timings were not communicated to the Nigerian Army.
“Be that as it may, the Nigerian Army deployed immediately to forestall further breakdown of law and order.”
The general added that Lagos had already entered destabilization stage when government lifted the curfew without informing the army, “otherwise we would have advised against such and asked that the curfew remained till Sunday.”
Narrating how the Lekki tollgate shootings occurred, Taiwo said: “When the military got to the tollgate, the police were already there, trying to deter the people who wanted to burn the Oriental Hotel.
“The commander on the ground met the real EndSARS protesters on one side and the hoodlums at the other side.”
He said soldiers were pelted with stones and bottles, following which they fired blanks to disperse the protesters.
“The genuine protesters sat on the floor.”
Explaining the difference between blanks and live ammunition, he said a live bullet would kill within a 600m range, depending on the shooter’s skill, while the blank one would not, even if shot at a close range.
A live ammunition, he explained, could blow up a target’s brain at close range, adding that the soldiers were, at different stages on the night, just a short distance from the protesters.
He said: ”If that rifle is shot at somebody at 10 metres, the damage is unimaginable.
“The entry hole (of a live ammunition) is thin, while the exit is wide. If it hits you in the chest or the bowels, the intestines come down.
“I am an expert in ammunition, having spent so long in the army. Blank ammunition is slower and can do no damage to the flesh, and you have nothing to fear except you take a rifle, put it against your eye and fire.
“Even if you put it against your skin and fire, you will only have burn marks.”
He said there were no gunshot wounds reported by any of the people taken to hospital.
He was upset about alleged campaign of disinformation against Nigerian Army.
“It’s done by those seeking to drive a wedge between Nigerians and the Armed Forces,” Taiwo added.
He denied allegations that soldiers took away corpses, adding that the army had no secret mortuary where corpses are hidden.
Giving details of efforts by the army to quell the protest and lootings, Taiwo said from his assessment of the incident across parts of the city, most businesses that were looted belonged to Igbo business men and women.
He stated that the statement made by leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, that Igbo were mostly responsible for the mayhem in Lagos, was untrue.
According to him, the hoodlums were from all ethnic groups.
He said: “In the wake of the protest in Lagos, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kalu stated that Igbo were responsible for the mayhem in Lagos. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
“By my assessment, most businesses looted during the protest were owned by Igbo.
“On two occasions when the curfew was lifted in Lagos, the army authority was not informed. If the curfew had remained in place, we would have been able to recover the looted items from Shoprite Lekki, Sango-Tedo and its environs.”
Gen. Ahmed also stated that the army would have been able to recover most looted items, especially at the Lekki axis, had the Lagos State Government not lifted the curfew imposed on the state, adding that the lootings were well co-ordinated.
