The Military commanding officer of the 65 Battalion of the Nigerian Army Salisu Bello, appeared before the Lagos Judicial panel as part of the ongoing investigations and inquisition into the killings of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate. Commander Salisu who in his testimony alleged that his men were attacked at Lekki tollgate on October 20, 2020, but never shot and killed #EndSARS Protesters at the Lekki tollgate. 
Commander Bello made his claim in his official testimony made under oath before the judicial panel during questioning, rather he averred that the #EndSARS protesters he and his men met at the Lekki Tollgate were rather happy to see them, though they were attacked by hoodlums who threw dangerous objects at him and his men on arriving at the scene and were forced to fire blank ammunition in the air to scare the hoodlums away from the crowd.
PUNCH reported that Bello said that he personally offered the protesters water and drinks while persuading them to go home. Bello added that while he was moving towards the Lekki-Ajah Expressway around 6.45 pm, he heard gunshots before the tollgate and later realised that the crowd had turned from peaceful protesters to a mob.
The army commander said;
“On getting to the tollgate, I persuaded the crowd to go home and observe the 24-hour curfew declared by the state government. But surprisingly, the hoodlums continued throwing stones, bottles and other dangerous objects at us and were burning tyre.
“I again fired some blank ammunition upward to scare the hoodlums away. But some protesters who were still at the tollgate sitting down quietly were given water and drinks by me while pleading with them to go home.
“We did not fire at the protesters. Blank ammunition were fired upward to scare the hoodlums from the crowd. Nobody was shot dead at the Lekki tollgate, there was no massacre as claimed. The claim that the military took away dead bodies was not true. The protesters were happy to see us as indicated in some of the video clips of 20th October 2020.”
On his part, Commander, 81 Division Garrison, VI, Brig-Gen Francis Omata said;
“On arrival at the tollgate at about 7.30pm, I met a rowdy situation. I also met the Commanding Officer, 65 Battalion (Bello), who briefed me on the situation. He briefed me that he met a hostile crowd, hoodlums mixed with the protesters, who were chanting and throwing stones at them. I was able to disperse the crowd by firing blank ammunition into the air.
“At this point, stones and sticks were being thrown at us. Then I moved to a safe area and briefed General Officer Commanding 81 Division, Maj Gen Godwin Ahamefuna Umelo by phone.
“The General Officer Commanding directed me to pacify the hostile crowd and move the troops back to base. However, the crowd still continued chanting #EndSARS. I then instructed the troops to withdraw to base.”
It was further gathered that the absence of the two youth representatives serving on the panel stalled proceedings on Saturday, November 7, and the army officers could not testify.
Photo Credit: Getty
