Still on the Lekki Tollgàte Massacre

*By Felix Akpan PhD*

I have read and listened to several accounts of the infamous Lekki Tollgate Massacre from both local and foreign media. These include the presentation the Nigerian Army made at the ongoing Lagos State Judicial Panel of  Inquiry and the recent  CNN Exclusive Report on the unfortunate incident. At the core of the matter are: what kind of ammunition did the army use to disperse protesters at the Tollgate? Were there fatalities? What's the actual numbers of fatalities? What numbers sustained injuries? I have deliberately ignored the much touted word massacre because of the coloration it has assumed in relation to the incident and to allow the readers decide for themselves if what happened at the Tollgate could pass for a massacre or otherwise.

In attempt to answer the above questions the Nigerian Army claimed in its presentation with evidence that they used blanks and not live bullets to disperse the protesters at the Tollgate. Hence, no fatality was recorded, not to talk of massacre. The army insists that if live rounds were used there would have been a sea of blood and floating dead bodies at the scene. To further clear our doubts, they also provide counter evidence to debunk the trending videos of the alleged massacre purported to have been orchestrated by the army. If you ask me,  their presentation at the Panel was not only systematic, but  impressive. However, the issue under contestation is, was it credible? That is the kind question one would have expected the mainstream media to answer unambiguously after a thorough investigative journalism. But it would seem they have not been able to do so satisfactorily.  Rather, they seemed helpless and tend to rely heavily on  unprofessional and unverified materials on the social media market place. Even the almighty CNN, following the embattled US President Donald Trump, the world leading progenitor of fake news, "fall my hand"  in this regard.

What happened to investigative journalism? While definitions of investigative journalism vary, among scholars and practitioners, there is a general consensus on its major ingredients: systematic, in-dept, originality and the unearthing of secrets hitherto unknown in the public domain. If we subject the CNN Exclusive Report to integrity test based on those indices I have no doubt in my mind that it would fail woefully. The Report didn't answer the questions on the numbers of fatalities or injured persons linked to the alleged massacre convincingly. It didn't also unearth the families, relatives and friends of the alleged victims. Not even to get them to talk off camera, especially, if they do not want to reveal their identity.  What about unearthing where the supposed dead bodies of the alleged victims were buried or burnt to cover up the heinous crime.  If there are such secrets the dire economic conditions and the rat race it has forced on us would have made the bearers to spill it  for $1000 or less at the Mami Market in the barracks effortlessly to both local and foreign journalists.

What about the various health facilities the alleged victims were taken to,  does it also mean that no one was ready to talk or sing on condition of anonymity for a few dollars?  Could it be that CNN is trying to appease its sponsors or redeem its reputation in Nigeria after the bogus Documentary its former reporter, Jeff Koinange did on the Niger Delta Avengers in 2006?  Is that probably why  the current report lacks originality and depth? Nonetheless, the government should investigative CNN claims in the report that live rounds were fired on peaceful protesters with the view of ascertaining the credibility of its source of information.  

Undoubtedly, those running around social media with CNN report of one unverified dead person and the testimony of the dead person's brother seem not to be familiar with the history of massacre in the country.  I would restrict myself to two recent incidence that best depicts what massacre truly is. You may wish to recall the Odi massacre in Bayelsa State and Zaki Biam massacre in Benue State under former President Olusegun Obasanjo where the Nigerian army burnt down the towns and killed scores of people including women and children. Till date if you go to those towns the relics of the massacre and the burial sites of the victims are available for everyone to see. Not only that the families, relatives and friends of the victims would bombard you with sordid tales of the massacre reminiscent of the civil war tales you might have read or heard of. And if given the opportunity they are ever ready to testify in both local and international judicial panel to tell the world their ordeal in the hands of the army for free. 

Comparatively, how come that families, relatives and friends of the alleged victims of the Lekki Tollgate Massacre are not interested in either telling their stories or seeking retribution for the victims. Come to think of it, the government has even set side 200 million for compensation. Does it mean that they are not interested in getting a piece of the cake for whatever it is worth or they do not have enough evidence to substantiate their claims  beyond reasonable doubt?  My people make una no vex. He get why I dey ask all these questions. For me,  those are the kinds of questions that would help us see beneath the smokescreen designed to obscure, confuse and mislead the public by those  possibly trying to use the #ENDSARS Protest to gain political mileage against 2023.

Thus, irrespective of what happened at the Lekki Tollgate, the term massacre is too weighty to be brandished about without irrevocable empirical evidence to support it.