Organizers of Wednesday’s protest called the dead “fallen heroes” and said they would have to come to the toll gate to remember them.
There were often tense standoffs between security forces and protesters, who arrested a handful of people, including a man who was being interviewed by CNN.
Ahead of the memorial event, the organizers and the Lagos State Police Commissioner agreed that the only mode of protest could be in vehicles and not through a street march.
However, some of the demonstrators were “forever in solidarity,” and “how many of us will we kill?” They took to the streets shouting slogans.
Police soon fired tear gas to disperse those who were demonstrating in the streets, calling them “misguided” in an interview with the media.
Meanwhile, at a news conference held on Wednesday in Abuja, the Nigerian government once again denied that police fired at protesters on October 20 last year – calling it a “phantom massacre” – and criticized CNN’s on the shooting. The reporting was described as “baseless”. ,
“When I saw my son, I screamed and grabbed him… The blood was oozing, he had a bullet wound on his chest. His clothes were torn and the bullet came out of his back,” she cried .
His son died in his arms when he tried to take her to the hospital. A year later, she is still waiting for an answer as to what happened.
Witnesses told CNN they saw the military removing several bodies from the scene. CNN’s investigation put together what happened when the Nigerian military and later police opened fire on civilians as they protested police brutality. Police have denied firing on the protesters. A video shot by an eyewitness shows the army firing towards the crowd.
Last year, the Army acknowledged that the Army had used both rounds and blanks, but maintained that they only fired shots in the air. Bullet shells were recovered by the protesters at the toll gate. The Nigerian government threatened to sanction CNN for its report.
The #EndSARS protest lasted for almost two weeks in October 2020 before being silenced by the shooting at the Lekki toll gate. Their initial demand was for an infamous police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, or SARS, to be shut down, but the march was called for police reform and an end to poor governance in the oil-rich country. were turned into protests.
Minister denies ‘phantom murder’
Speaking to the press on Wednesday in Abuja, Nigeria’s Information Minister Alhaji Lai Mohamed continued to deny that the Lekki toll gate shooting took place and criticized CNN and Amnesty International for their reporting.
“Today is the first anniversary of the phantom massacre at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos, the culmination of an otherwise peaceful protest that was later hijacked by miscreants,” Mohamed said.
“A year later, and despite ample opportunities to present evidence for the families of those allegedly killed and those accused of genocide, there has been no one: no bodies, no families, no concrete evidence, Just nothing.”
The minister criticized CNN and Amnesty International for what he called an “unproven stand”. Her statement specifically accused CNN of “shamelessly and brazenly” calling a “flawed narrative” in its latest report on the mother who found her son dying, saying it was “without strong evidence”. Was.”
CNN is sticking to its reporting of the incident. “Our reporting was carefully and carefully researched and we stand by it,” a CNN spokesperson said.
A CNN investigation published last year added together when the Nigerian military and later police opened fire on civilians protesting police brutality. It used time stamps, video data and geolocation to analyze hours of videos shot by the protesters – tracking army movements at the Lekki toll gate, where the protests had been taking place for nearly two weeks.
Asked why his office continued to discredit Amnesty International’s findings and CNN’s reporting, Mohamed said: “CNN was invited to a panel of investigations to prove its story. We are saying that If someone has lost their son or daughter, and there’s been a panel of investigations for more than 8, 9 months asking that person to come out and that person hasn’t come out, I’m a cook for CNN. Why would I believe the story?
A lawyer joined the panel on behalf of CNN.
Rights groups: prospects for accountability ‘weak’
A year after the shooting of Lekki Toll Gate, no one has claimed responsibility, nor has anyone been held responsible for what happened that night.
Human Rights Watch released a brief report on Tuesday titled “Nigeria: A Year On, No Justice for the #AndSARS Crackdown” saying: “The prospects for accountability are inconclusive and bleak. Nigerian authorities need to take concrete and decisive steps to ensure that It should be raised that those trapped in the abusive language against the protesters are held accountable.”
“Nigerian authorities must take effective steps toward accountability by showing victims that their loss, pain and suffering are not in vain,” said Aneti Evange, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch.
CNN’s Stephanie Busari reported from Lagos and Nimi Princeville from Abuja.
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