Nigeria News
Lekki protest collapsed because we didn’t participate – IPOB
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has explained why the End SARS protest that took place at Lekki toll gate in October 2020, collapsed.
The group said the protest collapsed after 72 hours because it didn’t give order to their supporters to join the march, IDOMA VOICE reports.
On the night of 20 October 2020, at about 6:50 p.m, members of the Nigerian Army opened fire on peaceful End SARS protesters at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos State, Nigeria.
Amnesty International stated that at least 12 protesters were killed during the shooting, however it is said the number is definitely higher.[3] There have been complaints about missing persons[6] and a few have been confirmed to be hospitalized and in critical condition.
A day after the incident, on 21 October, the governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-olu, initially denied reports of any loss of lives, but later admitted in an interview with a CNN journalist that “only two persons were killed”.
The Nigerian Army who were the principal actors in the shooting initially denied that the shooting ever happened, and that none of its personnel were present at the toll gate.
However, IPOB said all this happened because they didn’t participate.
“You didn’t ask us why the Lekki protest collapsed after just 72 hours. It collapsed because we didn’t give order to our boys to join the protest. We did that to teach them a lesson so that next time, they will know how important we are,” IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu said during a broadcast at the weekend.