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Young Nigerians Came to Protest Police Brutality. Then the Shooting Started.
Here’s our @WSJ reconstruction of the military attack on #EndSARS
protesters on Lekki Toll Gate on Tuesday: what we know, and what questions still need to be answered. THREAD https://www.wsj.com/articles/young-nigerians-came-to-protest-police-brutality-then-the-shooting-started-11603452187
Here’s our @WSJ reconstruction of the military attack on #EndSARS
protesters on Lekki Toll Gate on Tuesday: what we know, and what questions still need to be answered. THREAD https://www.wsj.com/articles/young-nigerians-came-to-protest-police-brutality-then-the-shooting-started-11603452187
The first sign that something was wrong at Lekki Toll Gate came when the lights went out... Protesters had gathered for the 13th straight night at the upscale intersection that had become the symbolic home for 2 weeks of nationwide demonstrations against police brutality.
Shortly before 7 p.m., the streetlights that illuminate the intersection of shopping malls and office towers fizzled out, plunging the street into darkness. Within 30 minutes, Nigerian soldiers had emerged from gun trucks.
As demonstrators began to sing Nigeria’s national anthem, “Arise O’ Compatriots,” the army fired live rounds at the protesters, leaving several people dead & flags stained with blood, filling social-media feeds with images that have prompted condemnation from around the world.
“We thought they wouldn’t shoot anyone singing the national anthem,” said David Emmanuel, a 26-year-old cellphone salesman. “I saw 10 bodies in the street. I was in deep shock, I thought I was watching an American movie,” said Feyishara Temitope, a 32-year- old banker.
WHAT WE DON'T KNOW: The number of people killed & wounded. @WSJ WSJ spoke to 7 witnesses who say they saw between 5 and 20 corpses. Videos that corroborated the testimony were verified by @WSJ & @Storyful. @AmnestyNigeria has identified 10 people who died from their injuries.
WHAT THE WORLD SAYING: U.S. officials in Nigeria said they ”determined conclusively” that the army was responsible and have called for an immediate investigation. The UN said there is little doubt there was excessive use of force and unlawful killings by Nigeria's military.
Nigeria’s government has refused to comment, pending an investigation. The army first referred questions about the killings to the police,before denying it was involved.President Buhari called on Thursday for protesters to leave the streets but made no mention of Tuesday’s attack
The military operation at Lekki Toll Gate appears to have been successful at destroying the momentum of the protest: the peaceful demonstrations have given way to widespread looting and vandalism in Lagos.
For the U.S., which considers the country of 206 million its most important military ally in sub-Saharan Africa, the demonstrations and the government’s deadly response have become a policy problem.
In a sign of the complexity of that bilateral relationship, three of the U.S. State Department’s top officials arrived in Abuja in the hours before the Lekki killings for meetings that included finalizing the sale of fighter jets and attack helicopters to Nigeria's military.
The protests may have fractured on the streets, but they will have a lasting impact, political and military analysts say, sparking a political awakening of Nigerian youth—a large number of whom didn’t vote in last year’s presidential election.
Some Nigerian officials say the protests are part of a plot to create tensions among the country’s different ethnic and religious groups. But many Nigerians feel that two decades after the end of military rule and the advent of democracy, little has changed.
For the full testimony of the #EndSARS protesters who were at Lekki Toll Gate, click this link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/young-nigerians-came-to-protest-police-brutality-then-the-shooting-started-11603452187
protesters who were at Lekki Toll Gate, click this link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/young-nigerians-came-to-protest-police-brutality-then-the-shooting-started-11603452187
