Former Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has again said that the #EndSARS protests claimed lives across Nigeria but caused no deaths at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020.
Mohammed spoke on Tuesday during an interview on Politics Today, a current affairs programme on Channels Television. He said the Federal Government acknowledged casualties during the protests but rejected claims of killings at the Lekki Toll Gate from the start.
“Five years later, my position remains the same,” Mohammed said. “The government never denied that lives were lost during #EndSARS. We lost people, including policemen and soldiers, but nobody died at the toll gate.”
Lekki Toll Gate: Mohammed Explains Government Monitoring
Mohammed said he kept in close contact with senior military officials as the protests unfolded. He explained that this communication started before troops entered Lagos, which helped authorities monitor developments around the Lekki Toll Gate.
He also questioned the absence of direct casualty claims. Mohammed argued that no family has reported a missing relative linked to the toll gate incident.
“The logic is simple,” he said. “Five years later, nobody has come forward to say, ‘My ward went to the toll gate and never returned.’”
Lekki Toll Gate Panel Findings Draw Criticism
Mohammed rejected the conclusions of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry, which labelled the incident a massacre. He said he took no part in the panel’s work and challenged the process that produced its findings.
“I am not part of the Lagos State Government,” he said. “I do not know how the panel reached that conclusion. Because I attended meetings where leaders took decisions, and soldiers went to the toll gate with blank bullets.”
He added that the panel’s report contained inconsistencies, although he declined to point out specific sections.
Troops Deployment Decision Defended
Mohammed defended the decision to deploy soldiers, saying hoodlums hijacked the protests after they began peacefully. He said the government acted to stop the situation from escalating.
The Lekki Toll Gate incident continues to spark debate, as protesters, civil society groups, and government officials present sharply different accounts of the events.
