A former Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, has reiterated that soldiers deployed to the Lekki Tollgate during the October 2020 EndSARS protests were issued blank bullets, insisting that no massacre took place at the site.
Mohammed stated this on Monday while speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, where he defended the position of the Federal Government under the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Our position on EndSARS was very clear. At no point did the Federal Government say there were no casualties during EndSARS; there were casualties,” Mohammed said.
“We reported them, we admitted them. Thirty-seven policemen lost their lives. Six soldiers lost their lives during EndSARS.”
He said while fatalities were recorded in different parts of the country during the protests, the Lekki Tollgate was not the scene of a massacre, contrary to widespread claims.
“We admitted it. We gave the numbers that lost their lives in Kano, in Abuja, everywhere, but what we said and what we still insist on is that there were no massacres at the Lekki tollgate,” he stated.
Mohammed criticised international media coverage of the incident, singling out CNN, which he accused of relying on unverified information.
“The CNN was not at the Lekki tollgate. CNN relied on poorly sourced stories to write its story,” he said.
Describing the Lekki incident as unique, the former minister said, “This is the only massacre in the whole of the world where there are no bodies. People died in Alimosho, people died everywhere, but there was no massacre at the tollgate.”
He challenged critics to provide evidence of deaths at the tollgate, adding, “Tell me one person who says my daughter or my son was at the Lekki tollgate and didn’t come back home. It’s five years on.”
Mohammed disclosed that soldiers deployed to the tollgate were issued blank ammunition, which he said could cause injuries but not fatalities.
“Soldiers were issued blank bullets when they went to the Lekki Toll Gate. The whole idea is to disable you,” he said. “As of today, to the best of my knowledge, there was no massacre at the Lekki tollgate.”
He added that he studied the Lagos State panel report on the incident and later addressed the matter publicly, maintaining regular communication with top military officers at the time.
“I was continually in touch with the Chief of Army Staff and the Chief of Defence Staff all throughout those operations,” Mohammed said.
Reflecting on the Buhari administration, he also justified the 2021 suspension of Twitter, now X, saying the platform had become “a platform of choice for anybody who wanted to destabilise the country.”
The EndSARS protests were sparked by nationwide demands for the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad over allegations of police brutality, with annual rallies still held to mark the Lekki Tollgate incident five years after.
