Lekki Toll Gate: Army changes story at panel hearing after CNN investigation

After insisting the troops sent to the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20 fired blank bullets, the Commander of 81 Military Intelligence Brigade, Victoria Island, Lagos, Brigadier General Ahmed Taiwo backtracked Nov 21.

According to him, the Phase Four of the military internal security deployed involved the use of both live and blank ammunition.

He, however, told the Justice Doris panel hearing of the incident that only soldiers with blank bullets fired shots into the air.

Taiwo returned on Saturday for cross-examination by two counsel for #EndSARS protesters, Messrs Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN) and Mr Adesina Ogunlana.

When Olumide-Fusika asked if soldiers who went to the toll gate carried guns, Taiwo said, “When you are talking of guns, you are talking about high-calibre guns. They were carrying rifles; not guns.”

But the lawyer said a visit to the toll gate after the shooting incidents showed marks of gunshots.

“Definitely, a portion of the Force will carry live bullets, in case they are attacked. But the soldiers that formed the firing team, who fired, used blank bullets. And that is why you watched the video and saw exactly what happened,” Taiwo said.

The Nigerian Army deployed no fewer than seven military trucks to the Lekki Tollgate that evening

Admitting the soldiers shot live bullets, especially after CNN investigation confirmed this, is the first major somersault the army will be making.

It has also insisted no one was shot or killed.