On this day in 2020, thousands of young peaceful protesters, standing shoulder to shoulder under a dark cloud at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos State, were brutally shot at by their own soldiers in what has been labelled a ‘massacre’.
This is UNACCEPTABLE!!!
Security agents have responded with unimaginable violence, killed many peaceful protesters, injured many & have done so with the full endorsement of Nigerian government. #EndSARS pic.twitter.com/TLs0vQtDtf— EiE Nigeria (@EiENigeria) October 20, 2020
Not even the singing of Nigeria’s anthem and waving of its flags by these unarmed citizens could stop the shooting and killing by their soldiers, who had sworn to protect them and the country.
They gathered at the Lekki Tollgate and in some other parts of the country to protest against the continued police brutality and extrajudicial killings with the hashtag, #EndSARS.
The findings of the judicial panel of inquiry established by the government of Lagos State unequivocally labelled the incident at the tollgate a ‘massacre.’
‘Numerous unidentified bodies were taken away by security forces and the Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (LASEHMU), then placed in different hospital morgues’, the panel’s report read.
The panel also confirmed that after the Nigerian army’s departure, officers of the Nigerian police followed up with the killing of protesters, shooting directly at fleeing individuals.
As we remember that sad incident, there are still unresolved issues relating to the 2020 protests, with some protesters still being arbitrarily detained – the majority of them without trial – in Kirikiri Medium Correctional Centre and Ikoyi Medium Security Correctional Centre in Lagos, as reported by Amnesty International. This is unacceptable!
The Nigerian government under President Bola Tinubu must ensure the immediate release of all #EndSARS protesters and the implementation of recommendations made by the investigative panels and genuine police reforms.
Photo source: Pierre FAVENNEC/AFP
