Nigeria: The Bloodstains At Lekki Tollgate

18 November 2021
column

"When the army announced last week that beginning Tuesday it would commence 'Operation Crocodile Smile'--not against Boko Haram insurgents in the North-east but rather across the country "to identify, track, and counter negative propaganda in the social media and across cyberspace"--it was obvious to discerning Nigerians that EndSARS protesters were their target. It was also clear that the intervention would not end well. Crocodiles don't smile. When the big reptile opens its mouth, it is not a friendly gesture; it is to kill and destroy. And that was exactly what happened at the Lekki-Epe toll gate in Lagos on Tuesday night following what appeared to be a well-orchestrated attack under the cover of darkness. The exact number of lives lost in that tragic incident as well as in other cities (where criminals have hijacked the civil protests) in the past one week remain a matter of speculation. But no one will dispute the fact that what we are now experiencing is a national calamity. The irony to the Lekki tragedy is that you can be shot by soldiers while protesting extra-judicial killings by the police!"--From EndSARS to Bloodbath, 22 October 2020

"That a blood-stained flag is being used to symbolize what happened at Lekki tollgate on the night of 20th October 2020 is a sad commentary on our country. The story behind it is that when soldiers arrived the scene, protesters took a knee, waved the Nigerian Flag, and began singing the National Anthem. The shots that reportedly followed stained the flag. In these days of alternative facts, nobody can be sure that exactly was what happened. But it really doesn't matter. To feel safe and secure in your own country is a basic right. The EndSARS protests resulted from the denial of those rights by agents of state. To be shot by soldiers (with or without a flag) while protesting is a stain on the conscience of any nation." --Lekki and the Bloodstained Flag, 29 October 2020

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