EndSARS: Soldiers deployed to Lekki tollgate fired blank bullets, says Lai Mohammed

File photo: Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed

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A former Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has said that soldiers deployed to the Lekki Tollgate during the October 2020 EndSARS protests were issued blank bullets.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Monday, Mohammed reiterated that no massacre took place at the Lekki tollgate.

He 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.”

According to him, while deaths were recorded in several parts of the country during the protests, there was no massacre at the Lekki Tollgate.

“Nobody speaks about this, but we admitted it. We give the numbers that lost their lives in Kano, in Abuja, everywhere, but what we said and what we still insist on, that there were no massacres at the Lekki tollgate,” Mohammed stated.

He also criticised international media coverage of the incident, particularly CNN.

“And I think this is where I disagreed with the CNN. The CNN was not at the lucky tollgate. CNN relied on poorly sourced stories to write its story,” he added.

Mohammed said he still stands by his position, describing the Lekki Tollgate incident as “the only massacre in the whole of the world where there are no bodies”.

“This is the only massacre in the whole of the world where there are no bodies. People died in Alimoso, people died everywhere, but there was no massacre at the tollgate, and I challenge anybody to come and tell me today that ‘my son or my daughter was at the tollgate, he didn’t come back home,” he said.

The former spokesman of the All Progressives Congress disclosed that soldiers deployed to the tollgate were issued blank bullets.

Mohammed noted that while such ammunition could only cause injuries, it did not amount to a massacre.

“Soldiers were issued blank bullets when they went to the Lekki Toll Gate. The whole idea is to disable you, of course, yes, it could probably.

“I’m not a ballistic forensic expert, but I’m saying that as to the best of my knowledge, as of today, there was no massacre at the Lekki tollgate,” he stated.

The former minister said he studied the Lagos State report on the incident and later addressed the matter publicly.

“Of course. Not only did I read it [the Lagos State report], I also studied it, and I came back immediately when I came back from France, and I had a world press conference in which I dissected, and I said, ‘No. This is what really transpired.’”

Mohammed said he maintained constant communication with top military officers at the time.

“At the Federal Government level who had access to such information they didn’t have. And I know for a fact because I was continually, continuously in touch with the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief of Defence Staff all throughout those operations, and we had meetings with them,” he said.

“I know for a fact that soldiers were issued blank bullets when they went to the Lekki tollgate. The actors are still alive today.

“There was a lot of fake news, a lot of misinformation, but really the truth of the matter, and I stand by the up to this day, of course it’s not popular at all because everybody wants to believe that people were massacred and say this: Tell me one person who says my daughter or my son, or my ward was at the Lekki tollgate and he was shot and killed there. It’s five years on,” he added.

While reviewing the eight years of the Muhammadu Buhari administration, Mohammed also said Twitter, now known as X, was suspended in 2021 because it had become “a platform of choice for anybody who wanted to destabilise the country”.

The EndSARS protests were triggered by nationwide calls for the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force over allegations of human rights abuses.

Although some prominent anti-SARS figures claimed that protesters were shot and killed by soldiers at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos, the Buhari administration consistently dismissed the allegations.

Five years after the incident, rallies have continued to be held annually to mark the anniversary.

Olugbenga is a fine-grained journalist with over nine years of experience. He loves the smell of a good lead and has a penchant for finding out interesting good reports.

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