The 81 division of the Nigerian Armey on Saturday has admitted that it took live bullets to the Lekki Tollgate on october 20, 2020 #EbdSARS protest. The army made a u-turn when testifying before the judicial panel set up by the Lagos State government to probe the incident. The army commander Brig.Gen Ahmed Taiwo had earlier informed the panel that no-live rounds were fired at the scene.
Taiwo, while commenting on the incident during the cross-examination by Olumide Fusika, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN), cliamed that the live bullets were not used on the protesters, but were meant for the protection of the army team deployed to restore order in the state.
According to Taiwo: “We had men and materials – vehicles and rifles for shooting. A portion of the force were carrying live bullets in case they are attacked. Another portion will carry magazines charged with blank ammunition,” he said.
While being cross-examined by another counsel to #EndSARS protesters, Mr. Adeshina Ogunlana, Mr Taiwo said the military acted professionally and within the army’s rules of engagement.
“The soldiers will be using both live and blank bullets and in this particular case, we saw that this protest had been infiltrated by hoodlums. We had peaceful protesters no doubt, but there were hoodlums who sought to take advantage of the protest,” he said.
He, however, claimed that the army was not deployed to the Lekki Tollgate, “but were on patrol to clear up the Lekki, Eti-Osa corridor,” once again countering its earlier claim that the army was invited by the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. Sanwo-Olu had earlier denied inviting the soldiers.
