Nigeria\u2019s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar
\nMalami, has said hoodlums wearing military fatigues \u2014 and not soldiers \u2014
\nlikely shot #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos state.<\/p>\n
Nearly two weeks ago, protests calling for the disbandment of the
\nspecial anti-robbery squad (SARS) took flight across the country.<\/p>\n
The police unit was disbanded but the protests persisted as citizens
\ndemanded reforms in the force.<\/p>\n
Protesters converged on the tollgate for 13 days before they were
\nforcefully dispersed by soldiers.<\/p>\n
There are reports that some of the protesters were killed by the
\nsoldiers who stormed the tollgate on October 20, 2020, but there are
\ndisparities in the number of casualties and no clear evidence has been
\nproduced.<\/p>\n
Speaking with journalists on Monday in Abuja, the AGF said an
\ninvestigation is underway to ascertain what truly happened at the Lekki
\ntollgate.<\/p>\n
Malami said it was \u201cpre-emptive\u201d to conclude that there had even been
\nshootings, adding that \u201choodlums\u201d may have been hired to create a scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou cannot rule out the possibility of perhaps hoodlums that set in to
\ncreate a scene\u2026 could equally partake in the process,\u201d the AGF said.<\/p>\n
The Lekki tollgate incident had sparked off outrage across the country.<\/p>\n
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Lagos state governor, blamed the incident on \u201cforces
\nbeyond my direct control\u201d.<\/p>\n
But the Osoba Olaniyi, acting director, army public relations, said the
\nLagos government invited the army to restore order.<\/p>\n
However, he denied that soldiers shot protesters, describing reports on
\nthe attack by the military as fake.
\nThe army also said it will not disclose the identity of its men who were
\nsent to Lekki tollgate on October 20.<\/p>\n
The judicial panel set up by the Lagos state government to probe alleged
\nbrutality by the disbanded SARS has already commenced sitting.
\nThe panel visited the Lekki tollgate last Friday.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nigeria\u2019s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mallam Abubakar Malami, has said hoodlums wearing military fatigues \u2014 and not soldiers \u2014 likely shot #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate in…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":76743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-76742","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n