The Nigerian Army has refused to reveal the soldiers deployed to Lekki Toll-Gate, and it raises many questions

According to recent reports, the acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations and 81 Division’s spokesperson, Major Osoba Olaniyi, has disclosed that the military will not reveal the number of soldiers deployed to the Lekki Toll-Gate on the night that peaceful #EndSARS protesters were gunned down.

The Nigerian Army (NA) had initially denied its involvement in the horrific incident that claimed so many lives on that fateful night of 20th October 2020, despite video evidence that proved otherwise. But they eventually confessed to being at the scene of the protest to intervene on the orders of the Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu. 

Ever since then, the mystery behind who ordered the shootings is one Nigerians have been trying to unravel. Another mystery is the non-disclosure of the identity of the military officers who were involved in the dastardly act.

It beats the imagination of many Nigerians that the military has failed to identify the culprits despite admitting that they were present at the scene of the crime. 

But what could be responsible for the stand the Nigerian Army has taken about the identity of the officers in question?

Could a non-disclosure agreement of some sort be responsible for this? Also, revealing the identity of the officers may rope some big names in, whose identity the military could be protecting, to avoid creating more problems for themselves. Well, who knows?

Not only has the Nigerian Army kept the identities of the culprits hidden, but they have also refused summons by the Lagos Judicial Panel currently investigating the Lekki Toll-Gate shootings because the panel, according to Major Osoba Olaniyi, the Army Public Relations and 81 Division’s spokesperson, is not in any position to invite them for probing.

He said: 

“If we receive a letter from the state, we will go. Are we not under civil authorities? Are we not part of Nigerians? Have you forgotten that we did not go there (Lekki tollgate) on our own?

“It is not the duty of the members of the panel to tell us that. If the state wants the (81) Division to come, they will write and we will oblige. See, if they have written to the division, it is our duty to go. It is not for them to go through the media as if we are scared of coming.

“It is the state government that constituted that panel of inquiry. So if anybody needs to get in touch with us to come, it is still the state and not members of the panel.”

If the Judicial Panel cannot summon the Nigerian Army for questioning, what this implies is that the panel is powerless and their hands are tied. So what is the essence of setting up a judicial panel in the first place if they have no backing by the state government to invite the suspects of the shootings? 

What then happens if the Federal Government asks all affected states across the country to set up judicial panels to investigate the killings of young Nigerians by uniformed men? What is the guarantee that the defendants will show up and justice will be served?

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