LAGOS (Reuters) – Lakes under a 24-hour curfew imposed through police checks Wednesday when smoke rose from dominance in Nigeria’s largest city, where infantrymen fired on protesters the night before, witnesses said.
Lagos state governor said 30 other people were injured in the shooting at a toll booth in Lekki district, a focal point of nearly two weeks of national protests opposed to allegations of systematic police brutality.
Four witnesses said the infantrymen fired the bullets and at least two other people were shot. Two of the witnesses tested that the door lights were off for a while before the shooting began. One of them said he saw the infants’ bodies.
In a message on Twitter, the Nigerian army said they were not on site.
Authorities imposed a curfew in Lagos on Tuesday after the governor said the protests had been violent.
President Muhammadu Buhari, who called for “understanding and calm,” said Wednesday that he was committed to doing justice to those who suffer brutality and that police reforms that are also being demanded through protesters are accelerating.
His statement, issued through his spokesman, did refer to the shooting at the Lekki toll booth, from which a witness saw smoke coming out on Wednesday.
Police set up barricades in Lagos on Wednesday and did not allow cars to pass, there were some cars and others walking, two witnesses said.
They said some cops were armed and wearing bulletproof vests, and many were dressed. Witnesses also heard the sound of gunfire in the okota and Ebute Metta spaces on the Lagos mainland.
“THE BUCK STOPS AT MY TABLE”
Thousands of Nigerians held demonstrations, first of all, aimed at a police unit, the Special Anti-Theft Squadron (SARS), which human rights teams had accused for years of extortion, harassment, torture and murder.
The unit was dissolved on 11 October, but protests and requests for police reforms persisted.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu tweeted images of his stopover at the hospital to victims of what he described as an “unfortunate shooting” in Lekki.
He said 25 other people were being treated for mild to moderate injuries, two were receiving intensive care and three had been released.
“I recognize that duty stops at my table and I will work with the FG (federal government) to get to the root of this unfortunate incident and stabilize all security operations in the lives of our residents,” Sanwo-Olu said.
In a broadcast, he said incidents of fire and “destruction” had been reported in Lagos on Wednesday morning, and suggested Buhari interfere to investigate what happened in Lekki.
Those who attended Tuesday’s demonstration said the soldiers shot them dead.
Inyene Akpan, a 26-year-old photographer, said more than 20 infantrymen arrived at the toll booth and opened fire and saw two other people being shot.
Witness Akinbosola Ogunsanya said he saw a dozen more people shot and bodies of infantrymen. Another witness, Chika Dibia, said infantrymen surrounded others as they were shot.
A spokesman for the Nigerian army responded to requests for comment.
Nigeria’s euro sovereign bonds fell more than 2 cents compared to Wednesday following the shooting.
(Report via Angela Ukomadu, Alexis Akwagyiram and Libthrough George in Lagos; edited through John Stonestreet)
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