U.S. Report Inaccurate, Soldiers Killed At Least 10 Protesters In Lekki

11 min read 2,014 words 0 views

Global rights body Amnesty International on Thursday said the
United States “could have taken more time to evaluate” all
available evidence before publishing its controversial report that
appeared to downplay the role of Nigeria’s brutal military in using
lethal force to quell the historic #EndSARS demonstration last
October.

The U.S., in its ‘2020 Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices: Nigeria,’ said Amnesty International’s report on the
shooting at Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos, where soldiers reportedly
opened live rounds on protesters, was uncorroborated, a statement
that effectively knocking the rights group’s position that at least
10 civilians were shot dead by Nigerian troops deployed against
protesters in the upscale Lagos neighbourhood on October 20,
2020.

The U.S. report also stated that soldiers were only sent to the
protest ground to enforce a curfew and they shot into the air, a
position that pro-government commentators said discredited
widespread reports, including a live stream of the attack on
Instagram, of how soldiers opened live rounds and left a trail of
deaths and injuries.

“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 U.S. report said. “Accurate information on fatalities
resulting from the shooting was not available at year’s end.
Amnesty International reported 10 persons died during the event,
but the government disputed Amnesty’s report, and no other
organisation was able to verify the claim.”

The report has since generated controversy, with pro-government
agents gleefully parroting it to puncture the heap of evidence that
suggests soldiers’ deadly force.

Many sources, including those from security sources, told
Peoples Gazette that casualties were recorded on the night of the
attack after soldiers fired at protesters who were sitting on the
ground, singing the national anthem and waving the Nigerian
flag.

A Nigerian celebrity, DJ Switch, also recorded a live Instagram
session during the melee, showing gory scenes and saying seven
persons had died before her device went off.

She later asserted that casualty figures rose to 15 in a later
update on the incident.

Amnesty International’s Nigeria maintains that the testimonies
of witnesses at the Lekki Toll Gate affirmed that soldiers fired
live rounds at demonstrators as against claims of firing blank
bullets in the air.

Amnesty Nigeria chief Osai Ojigho told Peoples Gazette on
Thursday that “Amnesty International stands by its initial findings
that in October we released based on the information that we’re
able to independently verify as at that time and we’ve continued to
encourage the state government and the federal government to do
justice by the people.

“Amnesty International had asked for independent and transparent
investigations into what really happened at the Lekki Toll Gate and
we still haven’t seen that and that is what is really worrisome
especially because a lot of people will not be able to move on
until justice is served.”

Contrary to U.S.’ claims that no other organisation confirmed
Amnesty’s findings, Ms Ojigho said her organisation carried out its
investigation after the incident while also considering other
credible reports.

“Amnesty International stands by its initial findings that in
October we released based on the information that we’re able to
independently verify as at that time and we’ve continued to
encourage the state government and the federal government to do
justice by the people.

“There have been other reports by other organisations and also
shared on social media attesting to the fact that different people
who were located at the Lekki Toll Gate at the time of the incident
were reportedly killed.

“CNN carried the report about a young man that died and when the
younger brother called the phone number and people picked the call
and they claimed that ‘this is not your brother, your brother is
dead,” Ms Ojigho said.

Speaking further, she said “there are still a lot of unclaimed
bodies in many of the Lagos state hospitals and it raised the
question ‘who are those people?’ ‘Would they be allowed to be
investigated?’

“Check whether these are people who suffered gunshots for
example how long they have been there in order to rightly pinpoint
the time they were in.

“If you look at the Amnesty report, we were able to use
satellite imagery and information which were picked through
verified accounts to show the movement of officers to the Lekki
Toll Gate,” she said while adding that “the issue now really is not
about government just giving a blatant denial but about how they
need to carry out investigation without any fear.

Ms Ojigho said until justice is served in the Lekki killings,
Nigerian authorities will continue to carry out grievous human
rights abuses.

She noted that although the issues on #EndSARS are ongoing, the
U.S. report “is meant to show an unbiased assessment of the current
state of affairs with the country.”

The rights advocate expressed confidence that the truth will
soon be uncovered as Nigeria moves closer to the six months’
anniversary of the shooting.

“Right now, people are still careful to be publicly identified
and this is what has been used by many that they haven’t seen
anyone come forward on what really happened,” she said.

Mrs Ojigho, however, said that the U.S. “could have taken more
time before evaluating the situation,” even though she was not in a
position to determine the activities of the country’s diplomatic
officials.

Ms Ojigho said Amnesty will wait also for additional facts from
the Lagos judicial panel and the medical facilities where the
wounded were taken.

“We’ll retain our call that everything must be open,
transparent, and families have the right to know the truth,” she
said. “The system needs to work for the people and not only for the
government of those who are in the office.”