Soldiers took live bullets to Lekki tollgate – General

• LCC footage shows soldiers came in seven trucks

Soldiers deployed to Lekki tollgate, Lagos, on the night of October 20 to quell protest by youths against police brutality went with live bullets in addition to blank ammunition, the Commander of 81 Military Intelligence Brigade, Lagos, Brigadier General Ahmed Taiwo, stated this on Saturday.

He spoke at the resumed proceedings of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the alleged killing of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate.

Taiwo said a portion of the troops that operated at the tollgate on that night were indeed armed with live bullets.

He, however, maintained that only soldiers with blank bullets fired shots into the air.

Taiwo, who had earlier made a presentation before the panel in defence of the Nigerian Army on November 14, returned on Saturday for cross-examination by two counsel for #EndSARS protesters, Messrs Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN) and Mr Adesina Ogunlana.

When Olumide-Fusika asked Taiwo if soldiers who went to the tollgate carried guns, he said, “When you are talking of guns, you are talking about high-calibre guns. They were carrying rifles; not guns.”

But Olumide-Fusika told him that a visit to the tollgate after the shooting incidents showed marks or indentations suggestive of gunshots.

Responding, Taiwo said, “Definitely, a portion of the force will carry live bullets, in case they are attacked. But the soldiers that formed the firing team, who fired, used blank bullets. And that is why you watched the video and saw exactly what happened.”

Meanwhile, the CCTV footage of the incident has revealed the Nigerian Army sent at least seven military trucks to the Lekki tollgate on October 20.

The footage was played on Saturday before the cross-examination of Brigadier General Taiwo.

It also showed people running from the vicinity of Oriental Hotel towards the direction of the tollgate in the Lekki area at 6.43pm.

The military arrived there at 6.45pm in at least seven trucks seen in the footage.

The lights were turned off at the tollgate facility around 6.53pm and the footage began playing in a blurred black and white video.

At 6.55pm, the military drove through the tollgate and flashes of gunfire could be seen in the footage at 6.57pm.

At 7.09pm, the protesters appeared to be surrounded on all sides by the military vehicles.

The Chairman of the panel, retired Justice Doris Okuwobi, had earlier said during the hearing of November 6, a 20-hour footage presented by the Lekki Concession company (LCC) was given to lawyer for the #EndSARS protesters, Mr Adeshina Ogunlana.

She noted that the lawyer had on that day informed the panel that he would sift through the footage and select the portions that would be relevant to his case.