Femi Falana, Nigeria’s foremost human rights activist, has challenged a report by the US Department of State that said claims on Lekki shootings were not supported by evidence.
The US Department of State on Tuesday said that reports on the Lekki Tollgate shootings of October 20, 2020, lacked accurate information.
“On October 20, members of the security forces enforced curfew by firing shots into the air to disperse protesters, who had gathered at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos to protest abusive practices by the Nigerian Police Force’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS),” the US Department of State report, dated March 30, sai.
“Accurate information on fatalities resulting from the shooting was not available at year’s end.,” the report said.
It added that though soldiers fired live ammunition “to disperse” #EndSARS protesters, there is no verifiable report on the number of fatalities.
Falana, however, described the US report on the events at the Tollgate as “contradictory and misleading”.
Falana’s state read as follows:
‘The report has attempted to cover up the brutal killings at Lekki and other parts of Lagos from October 20-27, 2020. It is a very contradictory report. On the one hand, the report claimed that the members of the security forces were enforcing curfew by firing into the air to disperse protesters at the toll gate.
“On the other hand, the report stated that some protesters had turned violent after criminal elements infiltrated them and so the security forces fired protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate. The report did not mention the detachment of the Nigerian army which perpetrated the mayhem. Do soldiers shoot into the air to enforce curfew in the United States?
“The media should stop treating our people like colonial subjects by celebrating a foreign report that is subversive of the rule of law in Nigeria. How can the United States Government be allowed to treat the proceedings before a properly constituted Judicial Panel of Inquiry so contemptuously? The report is prejudicial in every material particular. It should be ignored by the Judicial Panel as it is designed to preempt the evidence being adduced by the survivors of the barbaric attack.
“The report did not acknowledge that the Nigerian army which initially denied that soldiers were present at the Lekki toll gate later turned round to admit that they were there but fired only bland bullets. The Americans should update the report by explaining how casualties and amputees were recorded when the soldiers only shot into the air.
“Fortunately, more credible reports on the Lekki killings compiled by the progressive media outfits in Nigeria including The Punch, The News, Sahara reporters and Premium Times have been published. To their credit, these media bodies have published detailed stories on the killings.
“Apart from the confirmation of the cold murder of two people by Governor Babajide Sanwolu of Lagos State a senior surgeon from the Redington hospital has given evidence of the protesters that were treated for gunshot wounds. Is the United States Government not aware of the fact that some amputees who lost their legs as a result of the shooting have appeared before the Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry?
“Following the dumping of scores of corpses from October 20-27, 2020 did the Lagos State Government not invite people whose family members were missing to identify the corpses at the Lagos State mortuaries? Did the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond ASCAB not disclose that there were 98 corpses dumped in the mortuaries? From the information at my disposal, three of those corpses have been traced to Lekki.
“I also know a lady who disclosed that her adopted son died of gunshots at Lekki toll gate. My law firm has taken up the case of a 28-year old lady who collapsed at Lekki with head injury and later died at a hospital in Lagos.
“The names of the casualties and amputees will be revealed at the appropriate time. Even President Buhari told the meeting of former leaders that 69 people including 51 civilians, 11 police officers, and 7 soldiers had been killed in the unrest.
“The President did not say if the figures included the protesters allegedly killed by the Nigerian army in Lagos. Did the United States report probe the breakdown of the official figures? So, why should I rely on the very unreliable report compiled in Washington on the genocidal attacks on unarmed protesters by soldiers from the Barracks who were illegally deployed by the immediate past Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai?”
The protests pitted the Nigerian government against the youth, who rose in violent protests against police brutality, especially by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a unit created to end armed robbery, banditry, and other crimes.
The protesters accused the unit, known by its acronym SARS, of torture, extortion, extra-judicial killings, and rape.
The protests brought upon Nigeria the biggest peace-time social dislocations in recent times, as all forms of economic, business, and social activities were brought to a halt.
The dislocations compounded the impact of the lockdown parts of Nigeria as part of measures to contain the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The protests started in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, but quickly spread to other cities and towns, forcing all police officers and men to vacate their duty posts.
In Lagos, the protesters occupied the Lekki Tollgate on the Leki-Epe expressway, one of the busiest in Lagos.
The US report acknowledged that Amnesty International reported 10 persons died during the event, but the government disputed Amnesty’s report, and no other organization was able to verify the claim. The government reported two deaths connected to the event, the report said.
“One body from the toll gate showed signs of blunt force trauma. A second body from another location in Lagos State had bullet wounds.,” it said.
The government acknowledged that soldiers armed with live ammunition were present at the Lekki Toll Gate.
The report noted that at year’s end the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution continued to hear testimony and investigate the shooting at Lekki Toll Gate.
