October 20 2020 the unexpected happened, with bullets flying over the airspace and innocent protesters running for cover in the street of Lagos, it was a dark night and no one seemed to know what was happening.
That day didn’t come as a surprise to many, as there have been numerous bloody clashes all over the country, with Lagos and the citizenry bearing the harsh brunt of the crisis.
Iju Ishaga/Fagba an area in Lagos State wasn’t spared, ethnic clash destroyed lives and properties worth millions, even if it didn’t receive the necessary media attention, but the damage done at that area took lives and destroyed so many homes and businesses.
The massive looting and arson that followed in different parts of the state gave credence to the lack of intelligence gathering by our security operatives.
On the early hours of October 20 2020, the Executive Governor of Lagos State had no option than to declare a curfew, a curfew that was meant to curb the surge in the free for all destruction of the state which turned out to be a disaster.
It’s still unclear if the protesters on the ground didn’t get the directive of the state, but the events that followed later raised so many questions, yet one fundamental question:
who lied?
The Nigerian Army got all geared up and zoomed towards the protest ground like they were eager for the directive, seems they knew they were the last resort since the citizenry seems to have turned against the police force.
Without wasting time, the Nigerian Army got into the action, as news and short video clips caught some of the action, with bullets flying in the sky, while protesters ran helter skelter for safety.
The video clips was just like a war zone, with flashes of bullet rays flying in some of the unprofessional video cut. Unconfirmed reports about wounded victims and dead victims began to fly all around the social space
Happenings were sketchy, but hospitals were filled with people with bullet wounds and all form of injury, with so many medical clinic opening their gates wide open to accomodate the injured.
Dj Switch had her live IG video on where she was alleged to have said she saw some dead victims numbering 15, and their bodies were whisked away by the Nigerian Army. Social media tagged it the “Lekki Massacre”.
Who ordered the shooting?
Moments later different images of dead bodies and injured victims started littering the social space.
Even the sitting governor of Lagos State had to wait for the dust to settle before he started moving with his entourage in the middle of the night to confirm what had really happened at the Lekki Toll Gate, he also visited gun shot victims in different hospitals.
The following morning Babatunde Sanwo-Olu granted a state press release and he outrightly denied any involvement regarding the shooting stating clearly that there is no sitting governor who controls the rules of engagement of the army. He tagged it as “forces beyond his control”.
The Army on the other hand claimed they were at the Lekki Toll Gate based on the request of the executive governor of Lagos State. Even the EndSars panel hasn’t been able to provide enough clarity as to who ordered the shooting at the Lekki Toll Gate.
At some point we all agreed there were soldiers on sight, it was a fact that couldn’t be twisted or denied, then came the issue of live rounds or blank bullets.
The Nigerian Army claimed they were on site, but they never fired live rounds, instead they fired blank bullets. This claim has been in contention.
Like a wave, the unclarity regarding the Lekki Toll Gate shooting incident began to spread like wild fire, the number of deaths recorded plus pictures and videos came under scrutiny, that day fake news was at a surge, with so many questions left unanswered.
Questions on the lips of many till this present moment still remains unanswered, questions like:
- How many people actually died at the Lekki Toll gate?
- Was there even a massacre at all?
- Did the Army really disposed the dead victims into the Lagoon?
- Who ordered the shooting?
Something is certain, there are more to the Lekki Shooting incident than we know of
Fast forward to the post shooting incident of the Lekki incident, the wave of unclarity was still in the airspace, the dust were settled, it was time for accountability.
How did we spend the EndSars donation? What is left? These questions began to fill the social space. Soon someone claimed FEMCO made a bitcoin withdrawal from the EndSars crypto wallet, and then all hell was let loose on social media.
FEMCO on their part came up with a defence, which didn’t quite convince some. In the end the questions still remains:
Who lied? When will the truth unfold from all quarters?
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