Contrary to claims by the Nigerian Army that it was not involved in the shooting of innocent protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on Tuesday, the State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Wednesday revealed that the Nigerian Army did deploy troops to the area.
The Next Edition had earlier reported that the Nigerian Army Headquarters had taken to its Twitter page to deny deploying soldiers to the Lekki toll gate despite video clips showing uniformed soldiers shooting at the youths.
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Addressing Lagosians on Wednesday, Sanwo-Olu maintained that the Army deployed troops to the protest ground in Lekki last night.
He however noted that his hands were tied because as a civilian governor, he had no control over the military.
He said he had made efforts to warn the protesters to go home and reconvene when the violence that had been caused by hoodlums who hijacked the protests had been contained.
He said: “For clarity, it is imperative to explain that no sitting governor controls the rules of engagement of the military. I have, nonetheless, ordered an investigation into the rules of engagement adopted by men of the Nigerian Army that were deployed to the Lekki toll gate last night.
“This is with a view to take this up with higher commands of the Nigerian Army and to seek the intervention of Mr President in his capacity to as the Commander-In-Chief to unravel the sequence of events that happened yesterday (Tuesday) night.”
