By John Obafunwa, a pathologist, on Saturday, presented at least 99 bodies of Lagos #ENDSARS protesters to the Judicial Panel of Inquiry in Lagos State.
People’s Gazzette reported that Obafunwa, a former Vice-Chancellor of the Lagos State University (LASU), carried out an autopsy on the bodies said to be those of slain #ENDSARS protesters.
On October 20, 2020, amidst the protest against the now-disbanded rogue police unit, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), protesters were allegedly shot dead by military officers at the Lekki Tollgate.
Several persons were reported dead or missing in different parts of the state after the military shooting. Although the federal and state governments as well as the military denied these claims.
According to People’s Gazzette, photos presented to the Judicial panel and audience indicated that some of the bodies had bruises while others had deep cuts.
It was seen from the pictures that three of the bodies were from the Lekki Tollgate where soldiers opened gunfire on the protesters, shortly after announcement of a 24-hour curfew by Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The military initially denied the incident, describing videos and photos from the scene as “doctored”, but later admitted being at the protest ground and said they had only fired into the air to enforce curfew.
A Nigerian celebrity, DJ Switch, who did an Instagram live video capturing the shooting, said seven persons were killed, a figure that increased to fifteen in her later update.
Speaking with CNN in an interview after the incident, the Lagos State governor denied that any life was lost in the process but later said only two persons died.
Meanwhile Amnesty International had also reported that at least 10 civilians were shot dead by officers of the Nigerian military deployed against protesters.
