So Far…
The #ENDSARS protest which started on Twitter remains strong despite a shocking event that took a peaceful protest to a place of dark times. People were killed, guns were shot at citizens, questions were asked, suspicions were raised, a bloody event was tagged as fake news despite damning pieces of evidence and the story continues till today.
The Mistake That Birthed Blood
On the 20th of this month, the Lagos state government ordered a 24 hours curfew on its citizens to curb an uprising of violence during the protest. It was a known fact that during the second week of the protest, hoodlums began to attack protesters, and videos attested to it.
A peaceful protest should be secured by the police to one, witness the event and two, coordinate the orderliness of the protest, but such was not the case in Lagos for a two-week peaceful protest.
Suddenly, Governor Babajide Sanwo-olu declared a 24 hours curfew on Lagos residents which was to take place within 4 hours after the announcement. The Lagos population is a massive one and with a good amount of people at the Lekki Tollgate protest, mobility, and transportation away from the protest ground is assumed to be slow.
The Movie Scene
Gradually, the day was turning to night and reports of men uninstalling camera at the Lekki toll gate was surfacing online which was quickly followed by the billboard that lights the place up going off after some soldiers were seen and even the streetlight.
Live videos surfaced to give the live account of gunshots, people singing the national anthem, bullets being removed from someone’s tigh, ambulance not given access to take care of the injured. It was like a war movie scene.
Fake News?
Shockingly the next day, the ArmyHQ put out a disclaimer saying SaharaReporters and news all over the internet were fake news and the idea was bought by some who claimed the videos online about the previous night was doctored and labelled as fake. Governor Sanwo-olu also helped the fake news narrative trend when he said no one died from the shooting.
The Lies Caught By Consequences
It was how quickly the narratives changed from the army shooting at the citizens it vowed to protect. But now, the story has changed again, the army is quickly owning to carrying out civil order with confidence and the governor has publicly said, that the army was responsible for the shooting.
It All Could Have Been Avoided
All that happened would not have, if the police were on ground to monitor the orderliness of the protest, there will not have been a need for curfew, that mistake was made, then there was a curfew and it was such a sudden one even though it was later extended.
But, Was It A Mistake Or Intentional?
But the question remains; what rational reason does a government have to open fire on its citizens which were not armed, and if armed, could have been contained with the use of civil weapons like rubber bullets, or teargas.
Unbearable Consequences Reveals The Truth
The government tried every possible way to deny the obvious until the denial was beginning to sound ridiculous and hence, had to own up to their poor judgment and now, internationally, they are being made to pay for it like the US, UK, and some other developed countries have denied security agents visa out of Nigeria and the International Court is smoking the Nigerian government for answers.
The government playing to the international bodies’ tune without a fight right now shows the government has no fighting rights or leverage within the international community. A lot will begin to unravel more and more as the weeks roll by.
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