Group demands international probe into Lekki attacks, others

The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has canvassed international probe into the killings and maiming of harmless #EndSARS protesters in
the country.

Reacting to the Lekki Tollgate shootings of October 20, 2020, and similar incidents across the country that led to several deaths, CAPPA said the situation was deplorable and requires urgent intervention.

A statement issued by the Director of Programmes, Philip Jakpor, in Lagos yesterday, quoted the Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, as saying: “Military men mowing down peaceful and harmless #EndSARS protesters is totally uncivil and unacceptable.

Perpetrators of this premeditated murder must be identified and brought to book.”

Protesters have been calling for the disbanding of the dreaded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for the officers’ high-handedness and extra-judicial killings across the country.

The protests have spread from Lagos to Oyo, Osun, Edo, Ekiti Abuja, Kaduna, Plateau and other states of the federation.

The Lekki incident followed the imposition of a curfew on Lagos and the state government’s alleged invitation of the military to chase the protesters from the Lekki Tollgate grounds, which they had occupied since last week.

Social media accounts and videos indicated that the armed soldiers stormed the venue around 7p.m. on Tuesday and started shooting sporadically, killing no less than seven persons, according to initial media reports, though new facts show the numbers may be far higher.

Some accounts say the soldiers went away with many of the dead and prevented ambulances from conveying the injured to hospitals.

The attacks were allegedly preceded by the removal of the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) camera at the tollgate and the switching off of the lights in the vicinity by unknown persons.