Teargas at rally five years after Lekki massacre
Military-era reflexes and a culture of impunity: Nigeria’s police continue with brutality.
Pelumi Salako in Lagos
Police fired teargas at protesters gathered on Monday in Abuja to demand the release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of Indigenous People of Biafra, a banned group. Videos on social media showed people fleeing, including a man wearing a bishop’s cassock.
Such sights have become common in Nigeria, but this was remarkable because it took place on 20 October – the fifth anniversary of the Lekki tollgate massacre of #EndSars protesters.
Five years ago, soldiers fired bullets at a crowd gathered in Lagos to protest police brutality. They killed 12 people and injured at least 48. Last year, the Ecowas Court of Justice found Nigeria guilty of human rights abuses over the killings and ordered the government to pay victims 10-million naira each.
“None of that has been obeyed,” says Yemi Adamolekun, director of advocacy group Enough is Enough Nigeria. The judgement remains unenforced – and Nigeria leads the region in ignoring judgements from the Ecowas court.
Nigeria’s democracy remains stuck in its military-era reflexes, says Friday Odeh of governance NGO Accountability Lab.
This heavy-handed, military-first approach is rooted in years of unaccountable governance, where dissent is viewed as a threat instead of a democratic right,” he says.
It also undermines belief in Nigeria’s institutions. Ayo Ajadi, a protester who was present at the Lekki tollgate in 2020, says that day changed everything.
“[I realised] that accountability here is selective and that the state can erase even visible truths,” the 27-year-old tells The Continent. “It deepened our distrust in institutions and reshaped how our generation sees citizenship.”