The United States thoroughly studied the shooting of End
SARS protestors before issuing a reaction on the vicious attack.
On October 2020, soldiers opened fire on unarmed demonstrators
at the Lekki toll gate in Lagos, Nigeria’s biggest city.
From about 6:40 pm, sound of gunfire rented the air as
troops on foot – with vehicles moving slowly behind – marched from Sandfill Bus
Stop inward the toll barrier.
Recordings captured the movement, simultaneous firing, and cries of citizens who in darkness chanted the national anthem and waving mostly miniature Nigerian flags.
But the Nigerian Army has denied that it used force that
Tuesday night. The Defence Headquarters labelled videos posted on social media
photoshopped.
This is despite discoveries of bullets and spent casings.
Some collected have been displayed by DJ Switch whose Instagram live broadcast
from the scene hit over 160,000 views.
The Atlantic Council’s Digital Forensic Research Lab
(DFRLab) has stated that images and footages showing the charge by military
personnel are not fake.
Within 24 hours, America was silent amid global outrage. It
was usual for a country with a strong foreign policy. The State Department reacted
on October 22, two days after the incident.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced the episode and
called for prosecution of officers and men involved in the shooting.
“The United States strongly condemns the use of excessive
force by military forces who fired on unarmed demonstrators in Lagos, causing
death and injury. Those involved should be held to account in accordance with
Nigerian law.
“The right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression
are essential human rights and core democratic principles. We call on the
security services to show maximum restraint and respect fundamental rights and
for demonstrators to remain peaceful”, Pompeo noted.
Hours after his statement, a delegation led by Ulrich
Brechbuhl, Counselor of the U.S. Department of State, met Vice President Yemi
Osinbajo at the State House in Abuja.
A source close to the US government said that the
seeming delayed response was due to officials’ scrutiny of the situation.
“I heard that one of the reasons they waited to speak on
Lekki was they wanted to “triple confirm”, said the source.
“But also remember the depth of intelligence that US has on
this issue. They have means of finding out what happened. Wasn’t it GEJ who
said that “America knows”.
GEJ is an acronym for former President Goodluck Ebele
Jonathan.
He made the comment after ex Central Bank of Nigeria
Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi accused then Petroleum Minister Diezani
Alison-Madueke of embezzling $20billion oil proceeds.
“If you steal $20billion today, America will know”, Jonathan
declared.
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