The Nigerian Army says it will not disclose the number of its personnel deployed in the Lekki toll gate.
Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations and 81 Division’s spokesperson, Major Osoba Olaniyi, made this known during an interview with newsmen.
Newsmen have extensively reported how soldiers shot peaceful #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate on the night of October 20, 2020, a development which led to the death of no fewer than 15 persons.
Although the Nigerian Army initially denied involvement in the Lekki shootings, it later disclosed that its officers, particularly men of the 81 Division were invited by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to enforce a curfew imposed on the state last Tuesday.
When asked about the number of personnel involved in the shooting, Major Osoba Olaniyi declined to make any disclosure, explaining that it would be unprofessional to release the number of personnel deployed.
“It is against operational security. We don’t give that. It is against the policy of operational security. There is no problem here. The picture some people paint, as if we are fighting with the state government, is wrong,” he said.
The 81 Division spokesman also explained that men of the division intervened in the Lekki tollgate incident based on a request from the Lagos State Government, adding that the army will only appear before the Lagos State panel of Judicial inquiry based on the same directive from the state government.
He said: “If we receive a letter from the state, we will go. Are we not under civil authorities? Are we not part of Nigerians? Have you forgotten that we did not go there (Lekki tollgate) on our own?
“It is not the duty of the members of the panel to tell us that. If the state wants the (81) Division to come, they will write and we will oblige. See, if they have written to the division, it is our duty to go. It is not for them to go through the media as if we are scared of coming.
“It is the state government that constituted that panel of inquiry. So if anybody needs to get in touch with us to come, it is still the state and not members of the panel.”
