‘Soldiers deployed to stop Mayhem in Lagos’

The army general, however, admitted that Sanwo-Olu does not have the authority to give orders to troops. He said the governor could only have made a request for them to be deployed.
 
The general said that Lagos had entered destabilisation stage at the time Lagos State government lifted the curfew without duly informing us “otherwise, we would have advised against such and asked that the curfew remained till Sunday,” Taiwo said.

“After some observation, the timing was shifted, it was not communicated to the Nigeria Army. Be that as it may, the Army was deployed immediately to forestall further violence and loss of life. This deployment, contrary to what was out there, was done through out Lagos State in anticipation of phase four of internal security.”
   
According to him, it was this state of affairs that made the governor to ask the army to take over since police had been ran over.

Taiwo said they were duty bound to intervene in such situation. He noted that the deployment of soldiers  was all over Lagos State, stressing that the rules of engagement of internal security were strictly followed.

“It is the duty of soldiers to enforce law and order in conjunction with other security agencies,” Taiwo said.

Narrating the Lekki tollgate ordeal, he said that the 65 battalion acting under 81 division, Taiwo said, “When the military got to the tollgate, the police were already trying to deterred the people who want to burn the Oriental Hotel, the commander on the ground met the real EndSARS protesters on one side and the hoodlums at the other side. “The protesters started pestering the soldiers, throwing stones and bottles. The soldiers used blank ammunition to disperse the protesters. The genuine protesters sat on the floor. I was monitoring internet that night, after the soldiers have left, the hoodlums went back and burnt the toll gate. 
 
He further explained the differences between live  and blank ammunition. He said the live riffle will kill at 600m verocity if the riffle is shot at the close range.
 
Most looted businesses in Lagos owned by Igbos Taiwo that most of the business looted in Lagos were owned by Igbos. Gen Ahmed Taiwo made the assertion today while testifying  before the panel.
 
Giving details of efforts by the army to quell the protest and lootings that erupted in Lagos, Gen Ahmed said that from his assessment the incident across parts of the city, most businesses that were looted belonged to Igbo business men and women.
 
He also asserted that the statement made by leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kalu that Igbos were mostly responsible for the mayhem in Lagos was not true.
   
“ In the wake of the protest in Lagos, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kalu stated that Igbos were responsible for the mayhem in Lagos. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
 
“By my assessment, most businesses looted during the protest were owned by Igbos.”Gen. Taiwo also stated the army would have been able to recover most looted items especially at the Lekki axis, had the Lagos state government not lifted the curfew imposed on the state.
 
Insisting that the lootings were a well coordinated plan, he noted that on two occasion when the state government lifted the curfew, army authorities were not carried along.