Sanwo-Olu insists only 2 dead bodies have been identified, says no blood was found on the scene

2023 election

Sanwo-Olu insists only 2 dead bodies have been identified, says no blood was found on the scene

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday insisted that there were only two recorded deaths and no bloodstain at the scene of the Lekki Toll Gate shooting.

Speaking during an interview session with a CNN journalist, Becky Anderson’s “Connect the World with Becky Anderson programme”, Sanwo-Olu said the CCTV footage at the Lekki Toll Gate would be available for the State Judicial Panel of Inquiry to review as part of the investigation into the Lekki Toll Gate shootings.
“Two dead bodies, that is what we have seen from all the morgues, that’s what we have seen going to hospitals, that’s what we have seen as a record”.
He said: “We will be committed to a full investigation of what happened and people would be held accountable. They certainly would be held accountable. We would do everything possible to ensure that they are held accountable.
“People have claimed that their friends and family members have been killed. So, this Judicial Panel of Inquiry is meant to bring all of these stories to accountability; where we can make restitutions, where families can prove and identify officers that were responsible for this.

“What has happened is that there have been so many footages that were seen, that people have shown, but we have not seen bodies, we have not seen relatives, we have not seen anybody truly coming out to say I am a father or a mother to someone and I cannot find that person.

Nobody has turned up. I have been to the ground; there is no scratch of blood anywhere there.

“From the footage that we could see, because there were cameras at that facility, it seems to me that they would be men in military uniform. That’s what the footage shows.”

He insisted that there was no form of international pressure as a result of the protests, Sanwo-Olu said: “I genuinely believe there would be change. For two reasons; what has happened, especially in Lagos is extremely unimaginable.

It was also a clarion call for all of us in government understanding and realizing what the youths want us to be doing. It hit all of us like a thunderbolt and it was just a wake-up call.”

Sanwo-Olu assured that the Close Circuit Television, CCTV, footages will be part of the investigation by the judicial panel already set up to investigate the incident, which according to him has already started sitting on Monday.

He said: “People have claimed that their friends and family members have been killed or went missing over the years. That is what the judicial panel is meant to do. It is to answer all the unanswered questions and ensure justice.

“We will invite those who have one case or the other to try and identify those officers who were responsible.”

When asked if he was committed to a full investigation of the incident, the governor responded, “absolutely”.

He said: “It’s beyond my control to mete out punishment to those found culpable; however, those responsible will be held accountable.

“I am not the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The report will be out; we will channel the report to all the relevant authorities in the State to ensure everyone that is found culpable is accountable for the act.”