The governor of Lagos state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has revealed that footage has shown that the Nigerian Army is responsible for the shooting that occurred at Lekki toll gate in Lagos on Tuesday, October 20, 2020.
On Tuesday, armed men in army uniform stormed the toll gate where #EndSARS protesters had gathered for 13 days and dispersed them with live bullets.
The incident triggered condemnation from several authorities within and outside Nigeria. Both Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden joined officials from UN and other international agencies in criticizing the Buhari government over the shooting.
The Nigerian Army has however remained vehement in denying any form of responsibility for the shooting.
Sanwo-Olu spoke with CNN on Monday and disclosed that CCTV footage would be 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.”
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.”
The #ENDSARS protests ended abruptly following the tragic incidence in Lekki last Tuesday. However, angry youths have since taken over the streets, looting homes and warehouses believed to be storing COVID-19 palliatives.
