Nigerian army used live bullets on Lekki protesters – CNN report

• Nigerian army was professional in its conduct – Buratai

A new can of worms may have been opened in the ongoing investigation into the alleged shooting of #EndSARS protesters in Lekki as a CNN investigation has claimed that the Nigerian army used live bullets on the parotesters during its intervention in the protests in Lekki, Lagos State.

The American cable network also gave the name of a protester who reportedly died on the night of the shootings as Victor Sunday Ibanga.

But the Nigerian army has denied using live rounds, insisting that its soldiers used blank bullets and shot only into the air.

Before the publication of Ibanga’s picture, no dead victim had been publicly identified.

CNN said a forensic probe of the bullet casings recovered from the scene of the incident showed that live bullets were fired at the protesters.

It said many Nigerian military sources confirmed that the bullet casings “match those used by the army”.

The CNN said two ballistics experts also confirmed that the shape of the bullet casings indicate they used live rounds.

The network also said it worked with the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network and “established that several of the bullets from the Lekki toll gate originated from Serbia. Export documents CNN has seen show that Nigeria purchased weaponry from Serbia almost every year between 2005 and 2016”.

People who were previously reported dead later came out to deny — or it turned out they died elsewhere before the October 20 shooting.

For instance, Obianuju Udeh, aka DJ Switch, who streamed the shooting live on Instagram, said she counted 15 dead bodies.

A protester who testified before the judicial panel set up by the Lagos State Government to investigate the incident said he saw one dead body.

The Nigerian army had initially denied its men were at the scene of the incident where hundreds of #EndSARS protesters gathered to demand an end to police brutality.

Some of the protesters told CNN that soldiers fired into the crowd.

The Lagos State Government had first said no deaths were recorded before Babatunde Sanwo-Olu, the governor, revealed that two persons later died from their wounds.

It is still unclear if Ibanga was one of the two since the details were not made public.

CNN said its probe of the incident showed that 27-year-old Ibanga died of bullet wounds sustained from the Lekki shootings.

According to the investigation, Elisha, Victor’s brother, received a call that he (Victor) had been shot dead and “that the police took his body away”.

CNN also quoted one Peace Okon as saying she had not seen her 18-year-old brother, Wisdom Okon, who went to the protest ground on the night of the shooting.

Okon was said to have relocated to Lagos only a few weeks before the incident.

”I’ve gone to hospitals; I’ve gone to police stations, I’ve gone to everywhere. I can’t find him,” his sister said.

CNN also reported that several families were yet to locate their loved ones since the Lekki shooting.

Nigerian Army reacts

Reacting to the CNN report, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, says the Nigerian Army was professional in its conduct.

He spoke while receiving members of the House of Representatives committee on Army at the Army headquarters on Wednesday.

He said, “Let me assure you and all Nigerians that the Nigerian Army is a professional army. We follow our rules of engagement. Nigerians should feel safe.

“We abide by rules of engagement and the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”