#EndSARS, Lekki Toll Gate: Sanwo-Olu urged to release CCTV

Inibehe Effiong, a Lagos-based lawyer, has petitioned the Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led Lagos government to release to the public the CCTV records of the Lekki toll gate where dozens of protesters were attacked last week.

Eyewitnesses reported on Tuesday, October 20, 2020 how soldiers of the Nigerian Army fired live ammunition at them at the Lekki-Epe toll gate in Lagos.

The eyewitnesses were protesters who had shut down the lucrative toll gate for over one week as part of nationwide demonstrations against police brutality.

A couple of men who claimed to be toll gate workers had been pictured earlier on Tuesday reportedly removing security cameras.

Security forces violently cracked down on peaceful protesters last week Pulse Nigeria

However, Governor Sanwo-Olu said in the aftermath of the shooting the CCTV cameras were left intact and would be used in the investigation of the incident that has attracted outrage locally and internationally.

Effiong noted in a Freedom of Information request made public on Monday, October 26 that the CCTV records would enable him participate and properly represent victims before the judicial panel already commissioned to investigate the incident.

"It will also be in the overall public interest for these documents to be released to me timeously as that will enhance public confidence in the Panel’s investigation," he said.

The human rights lawyer noted that a refusal to acknowledge the request, made pursuant to the FoI Act 2011, would undermine the governor's commitment to a transparent investigation as he has claimed in public.

Effiong requested for the certified true copy of the instrument, and directive under which Sanwo-Olu declared the curfew that led to Tuesday night's shooting.

He also requested the certified true copy of the instrument setting up the judicial panel of inquiry investigating the shooting.

Governor Sanwo-Olu inaugurated the judicial panel on Monday, October 19 originally as a panel of inquiry and restitution for victims of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the state.

Even though the governor had initially said in the wake of the shooting it would be investigated by a separate five-member panel headed by a retired senior military officer, he later announced it would be investigated by the same SARS judicial panel, headed by the retired Justice Doris Okuwobi.

Quizzed on what his expectations are regarding his request, Effiong told Pulse on Monday he does not expect the governor to hesitate.

"It is in the interest of the government and the society for the records and the documents to be released.

"No one has seen the relevant Instruments that supports the setting up of the Panel.

"I cannot in good conscience sit back and watch without doing nothing," he said.

Inibehe Effiong at #EndSARS protest in Lagos [Twitter/@InibeheEffiong] Pulse Nigeria

Tuesday night's shooting was the escalation of a prolonged wave of demonstrations against police brutality, particularly by officers of SARS, a notorious unit that was dissolved one week into the protests.

ALSO READ: #EndSARS protests were peaceful, until Nigerian government weaponised violence to crush them

Eyewitnesses reported Nigerian soldiers fired at peaceful #EndSARS protesters who waved the nation's flag and sang the national anthem at the toll gate on Tuesday evening.

The Nigerian Army has bizarrely denied involvement in the shooting without offering up additional information other than branding reports as "Fake News" on social media.

President Muhammadu Buhari also failed to acknowledge the incident during a national broadcast days after the incident.