Shocked at the backlash of the massacre and international reactions to the killings at the Lekki Toll Gate, the Nigerian Army Headquarters has denied deploying soldiers despite video evidence showing uniformed soldiers shooting at the scene.
The Army in a Facebook post branded several reports linking soldiers to the tollgate massacre as fake news, stating, “No soldiers were at the scene.”
The countdown to the planned killing of the protesters began when officials of the Lekki Concession Company, on Tuesday evening, removed the CCTV cameras monitoring the tollgates.
Then, at about 7pm, the floodlights and display boards at the tollgates were also switched off, putting the entire area in total darkness.
Soon afterwards, security agents began opening fire on protesters.
To give cover to the operation, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State had imposed a 24-hour curfew on the State following the violence by hoodlums unleashed on the streets which led to the burning down of at least three police stations.
However, some protesters remained adamant and refused to vacate the Lekki tollgate which is the epicentre of the protests.
