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A witness at the protests, Akinbosola Ogunsanya, said the shooting started after the lights went out at the Lekki tollbooth in the Nigerian city. “Members of the Nigerian army came up to us and started shooting,” he said. “They were shooting, they were shooting directly, directly at us, and many people were hit. I barely survived.”
Ogunsanya added that barricades on both sides of the scene blocked ambulances.
Another witness, Temple Onanugbo, said he heard what he believed were bullets fired from his nearby home and that the sound lasted “between 15 and 30 minutes”.
Speaking to CNN from the scene of the shooting, Onanugbo said he saw “several bodies lying on the ground” when he arrived to help the wounded.
CNN has not yet been able to confirm the casualties.
The state government has ordered an investigation into the incident, according to Lagos Governor Gboyega Akosile’s spokesman. According to a tweet from Akosile, Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu also “advised security officers not to arrest anyone due to the curfew.”
Hours earlier, Sanwo-Olu had imposed a 24-hour curfew, including the closure of all schools in Lagos. Only essential service providers and first responders are allowed to be on the streets of Lagos, which has an estimated population of more than 20 million people.
“Dear residents of Lagos, I have seen with surprise how what began as a peaceful protest #EndSARS has degenerated into a monster that threatens the well-being of our society,” Sanwo-Olu tweeted when announcing the curfew at 4 pm ( local time). .
Deaths and serious injuries have been reported amid the protests since the weekend.
Amnesty International said on its Twitter account on Tuesday that it had received “credible but disturbing evidence” of “excessive use of force that resulted in the deaths of protesters.”
A 17-year-old boy died on Monday in police custody in Kano, a city in the north of the country, after allegedly being tortured, according to the human rights group. Many protesters and journalists were attacked by police and thugs in the capital Abuja on the same day. Videos on social media show dozens of cars belonging to protesters on fire and Amnesty International said three people were killed.
“As we continue to investigate the killings, Amnesty International wishes to remind the authorities that, according to international law, security forces may only use deadly force when strictly unavoidable to protect themselves from an imminent threat of death or serious injury.” Amnesty tweeted. .
Other videos show a massive escape of hundreds of prisoners from the Benin Correctional Center in Edo state in southern Nigeria. It is unclear who is to blame for the leak, and protesters say it was organized by the police. Nigerian Police said in a tweet that the protesters took weapons and ammunition from the armory before releasing the suspects into custody and setting the facility on fire.
Edo State Governor Godwin Obaseki imposed a curfew on Monday and tweeted about “disturbing incidents of vandalism and attacks on individuals and private institutions by thugs disguised as #EndSARS protesters.”
Riot police have been deployed across the country. According to a tweet from the Nigerian Police Force on Tuesday night, the Nigerian Police Inspector General ordered the immediate national deployment of riot police officers “to protect the lives and property of all Nigerians and to secure infrastructure. nationwide criticism. ” “
