Published 20th Mar, 2021

By Damilola Ayeni

Five months after soldiers shot at scores of young people demanding an end to police brutality at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, Nigerians on Twitter are remembering their fallen heroes.

Using the hash tag #LekkiMassacre, the young Nigerians are asking why nobody has been prosecuted for the murder of innocent protesters whose only crime was seeking a livable country.

“The person who ordered the #LekkiMassacre is a Nigerian like us. He still breathes oxygen like us. He still receives love from his family, yet he terminated the future of scores of Nigerian youths. It has been 5months and it will remain evergreen in our hearts,” a Twitter user wrote.

The person who ordered the #LekkiMassacre is a Nigerian like us. He still breathes oxygen like us. He still receives love from his family yet he terminated the future of scores of Nigerian youths. It has been 5 months and it will remain evergreen in our hearts.Who is that person?

— DR.PENKING™ (@drpenking) March 20, 2021

The Lagos state government initially denied that anyone died in the October 20, 2020 shooting, only to admit two deaths later. An extensive investigation conducted by FIJ, however, revealed that well over 20 people at the protest scene died after sustaining diverse degrees of bullet injury.

As more evidence confirming that the soldiers shot at protesters at Lekki Toll Gate resurfaced, the Nigerian Army pulled out of the investigative panel set up to look into the incident. The Lagos Judicial Panel Panel of Inquiry and Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Lekki Toll Gate Incident also suffered a credibility blow after Rinu Oduala, one of the youth representatives and arrow head in the protest, renounced her membership. Rinu cited “undue intimidation of peaceful protesters” and the panel’s decision to re-open the Toll Gate where the shooting took place.

In his reaction, Ayanfe Adeyemi, another Tweeter user, accused the government of orchestrating the murder to stop the new-found unity among Nigerian youth.

“They got scared of our unity instead of being inspired by Nigerians’ creativity and tenacity. We said stop killing us, but their response was #LekkiMassacre. It’s exactly 5months and no one is taking responsibility… A day of reckoning is on the wa; we won’t spare them,” he said.

They got scared of our Unity instead of being inspired by Nigerians creativity and tenacity , we said stop killing us but their response was #LekkiMassacre it’s exactly 5 months today and no one is taking responsibility…. A day of reckoning is on the way, we won’t spare them pic.twitter.com/nOtzBw5IO2

— Ayanfe Beloved Adeyemi (@ayfbeloved) March 20, 2021