Hillary Clinton, former US secretary of state, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to stop the killing of #EndSARS protesters.
Soldiers had invaded the Lekki toll gate area of Lagos earlier on Tuesday, shooting at unarmed protesters.
The incident had generated an uproar, within and outside the country.
In a tweet on Tuesday night, Clinton lent her voice in support of those who had condemned the action of the soldiers.
“I’m calling on @mbuhari and the @hqnigerianarmy to stop killing young #EndSARS protesters,” she tweeted.
I’m calling on @mbuhari and the @hqnigerianarmy to stop killing young #EndSARS protesters. #StopNigeriaGovernment
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) October 20, 2020
Super Eagles and Manchester United striker, Odion Ighalo also condemned the killings, describing the Buhari-led government as a shame to the world.
Soldiers opened fire on demonstrators protesting against police brutality in Lagos.
Hundreds of people were at the site at the time of the shooting, which witnesses said took place around 7pm.
“They started firing ammunition toward the crowd. They were firing into the crowd,” said Alfred Ononugbo, 55, a security officer. “I saw the bullet hit one or two persons,” he said.
Inyene Akpan, 26, a photographer, said more than 20 soldiers arrived at the toll gate in Lekki and opened fire. He said he saw two people being shot. Akinbosola Ogunsanya, a third witness, also told Reuters he saw soldiers remove bodies.
Scenes of protesters removing a bullet from someone’s wound and pleading for help were broadcast in a live video on Instagram by DJ Switch, a popular disc jockey.
Amnesty International said it had received “credible but disturbing evidence of excessive use of force occasioning deaths of protesters at Lekki toll gate in Lagos”, adding that it was investigating “the killings”.
Tens of thousands of people have been taking to the streets every day for nearly two weeks across Nigeria to demand an end to police violence.
The protests, organised under the #EndSARS hashtag, began with calls to scrap a notorious police unit, the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), which has long been accused of extortion, torture and extrajudicial killings.
