LAGOS — FORMER Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, yesterday, reiterated that soldiers deployed to the Lekki Tollgate during the October 2020 EndSARS protests were issued blank bullets, insisting that no massacre took place at the site.
Recall that the EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up by the Lagos State government had described the Lekki tollgate incident as a massacre.
The panel found that Nigerian Army officers shot at, injured and killed unarmed, helpless and defenceless protesters who were peacefully waving the Nigerian flag and singing the national anthem. The manner of the assault could, in context, be described as a massacre.
The panel also concluded that the Nigerian Army fired live bullets directly into the crowds of peaceful protesters without provocation or justification.
However, the former Information Minister, who spoke on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, defended the position of the Federal Government under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
He said while fatalities were recorded in different parts of the country during the protests, the Lekki Tollgate was not the scene of a massacre, contrary to widespread claims.
Mohammed said: “Our position on EndSARS was very clear. At no point did the Federal Government say there were no casualties during EndSARS; there were casualties.
“We reported them, we admitted them. Thirty-seven policemen lost their lives. Six soldiers lost their lives during EndSARS.
“We admitted it. We gave the numbers those who lost their lives in Kano, in Abuja, everywhere, but what we said and what we still insist on is that there were no massacres at the Lekki tollgate.
“The CNN was not at the Lekki tollgate. CNN relied on poorly sourced stories to write its story. This is the only massacre in the whole of the world where there are no bodies.”
People died in Alimosho, people died everywhere, but there was no massacre at the tollgate.
“Tell me one person who says my daughter or my son was at the Lekki tollgate and didn’t come back home. It’s five years on.
“Soldiers were issued blank bullets when they went to the Lekki Toll Gate. The whole idea is to disable you,” he said. “As of today, to the best of my knowledge, there was no massacre at the Lekki tollgate.”
He added that he studied the Lagos State panel report on the incident and later addressed the matter publicly, maintaining regular communication with top military officers at the time.
“I was continually in touch with the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief of Defence Staff all throughout those operations,” Mohammed said.
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