#EndSARS: We’re unhappy Sanwo-Olu denied inviting Army, General tells panel

The Commander of 81 Military Intelligence Brigade, Victoria Island, Lagos, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Taiwo, says the Nigerian Army was unhappy that the Governor of Lagos State, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, denied inviting the military on October 20, 2020, when soldiers shot at the Lekki tollgate where #EndSARS protesters were gathered.

Taiwo said this on Saturday in his testimony before the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the Lekki incident.

The general, however, said inviting the military was the best decision the Lagos governor could have taken as the #EndSARS protest plunged the state into anarchy but added that the Army was also unhappy that Sanwo-Olu said two persons died from the military engagement at the Lekki tollgate.

He said, “I spoke with the governor and said the Army was unhappy that he said he did not ask for Army’s intervention but I am sure that after you watched everything (video footages), you saw he had more than enough grounds to ask for Army’s intervention; perhaps it was the way everything went.”

The Lagos governor denied inviting the military to disperse protesters at the Lekki tollgate on October 20, adding that forces beyond his control were responsible for the Lekki incident.

But the Army Headquarters subsequently said in a statement that the Lagos State government invited the soldiers to the protest ground and that the soldiers acted within the rules of engagement.

The Lagos governor has been under fire since the incident at the Lekki toll gate which has been condemned by local and international civil rights organisations.