People 'shot dead' in Lagos, Nigeria

People 'shot dead' in Lagos, Nigeria

By Onlykhabar News Media Wed 21 October, 2020 ( about 5 years ago ) 🎤704 Viewersinternational

A number of people taking part in a protest against police brutality have reportedly been shot dead or wounded in Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos.

Witnesses said up to 12 people were killed and others wounded when soldiers opened fire. Amnesty International said it had "credible reports" of deaths.  The state governor said about 25 people had been wounded but denied there were any fatalities. Protests over a now-disbanded police unit - the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars) - have been taking place for two weeks, with demonstrators using the social media hashtag #EndSars to rally crowds. An indefinite 24-hour curfew has been imposed on Lagos and other regions.

President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed for "understanding and calm". Protesters who briefly gathered again at the Lekki toll gate - where Tuesday's shootings took place - were forced out by police, he adds.  Social media footage streamed live from the scene shows protesters tending to the wounded. Witnesses spoke of uniformed men opening fire in the wealthy Lekki suburb on Tuesday evening. "They were firing and they were advancing straight at us. It was chaos. Somebody got hit straight beside me and he died on the spot," he said. Four witnesses told Reuters news agency soldiers had opened fire on demonstrators. One of them, Alfred Ononugbo, 55, said: "They were firing into the crowd. I saw the bullet hit one or two persons." Amnesty International spokesman Isa Sanusi later said: "People were killed at the tollgate by security forces... we are working on verifying how many."

The army has not issued a statement on events in Lekki, but in several Twitter posts it described media reports as "fake news". "We are comforted that we have not recorded any fatality, as against the widespread circulation on social media," he said, adding that an investigation had been ordered.  Lagos state Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who visited hospitals on Wednesday, said about 25 people had been wounded in what he described as an "unfortunate shooting incident". 

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By Onlykhabar News Media Wed 21 October, 2020 🎤704 Viewersinternational
TAGS: Dead Nigeria Police brutality
People 'shot dead' in Lagos, Nigeria

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