No massacre at Lekki tollgate, soldiers fired blank bullets — Lai Mohammed

Former Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has once again dismissed claims that a massacre took place at the Lekki Tollgate during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests, insisting that soldiers deployed to the area were issued blank bullets.

Mohammed spoke on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, where he defended the position of the Federal Government under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari, despite the findings of the Lagos State EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry.

The judicial panel had described the incident at the Lekki Tollgate as a massacre, concluding that officers of the Nigerian Army shot at, injured and killed unarmed protesters who were peacefully waving the Nigerian flag and singing the national anthem. The panel also stated that live ammunition was fired directly at the crowd without provocation.

However, Mohammed maintained that while casualties were recorded in different parts of the country during the protests, the Lekki Tollgate was not the scene of a massacre.

“Our position on EndSARS was very clear. At no point did the Federal Government say there were no casualties during EndSARS; there were casualties,” he said.

According to him, security personnel also suffered losses during the unrest.

“Thirty-seven policemen lost their lives. Six soldiers lost their lives during EndSARS. We admitted it. We gave the numbers of those who lost their lives in Kano, in Abuja, everywhere,” Mohammed stated.

He insisted that the government’s disagreement was specifically with the claim that a massacre occurred at the Lekki Tollgate.

“What we said and what we still insist on is that there were no massacres at the Lekki tollgate,” he said.

Mohammed also criticised international media coverage of the incident, particularly a report by CNN.

“The CNN was not at the Lekki tollgate. CNN relied on poorly sourced stories to write its story. This is the only massacre in the whole of the world where there are no bodies,” he said.

He argued that while deaths occurred in other parts of Lagos and across the country, none could be directly linked to a massacre at the tollgate.

“People died in Alimosho, people died everywhere, but there was no massacre at the tollgate,” he said.

Questioning the narrative further, Mohammed added: “Tell me one person who says my daughter or my son was at the Lekki tollgate and didn’t come back home. It’s five years on.”

He reiterated that soldiers deployed to the area were carrying blank ammunition.

“Soldiers were issued blank bullets when they went to the Lekki Toll Gate. The whole idea is to disable you,” he said, stressing that, to the best of his knowledge, no massacre took place.

Mohammed disclosed that he studied the report of the Lagos State panel and later addressed the matter publicly, noting that he was in constant communication with top military officers at the time of the incident.

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