#EndSARS: Sanwo-Olu was right inviting army, General tells panel

Commander of 81 Military Intelligence Brigade, Victoria Island, Lagos, Brig. Gen. Ahmed Taiwo, says Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos was right to have invited the Nigerian Army to quell the riot brewing after the #EndSARS protest had been hijacked by hoodlums and in view of the loss of confidence in the police.

He, however, said the army was unhappy the governor later denied inviting the soldiers on October 20, 2020 to Lekki tollgate where some Lagos protesters had been meeting.

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

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

Taiwo showed the panel the footage of a scene where a mob killed someone, set the body ablaze and hoodlums were talking about sharing body parts.

He said the anarchy was reminiscent of the Liberian war.

He said, “These scenes are reminiscent of the Liberian Civil War when the fighters believed that once they consume human body parts, they would be fortified, they would be strong.

“It was these incidents that made the Governor of Lagos State ask for military intervention and in my opinion, that was the correct thing to do since the police had been overrun and policemen were fighting for their dear lives.”