BEVERLY HILLS, November 06, (THEWILL) – The Nigerian Army will on Saturday honor initiation by the Lagos State Panel of Inquiry probing the alleged shooting of protesters by soldiers on October 20 at the Lekki Toll Gate.
The spokesman for the 81 Division, Nigerian Army, Lagos, Major Osoba Olaniyi had insisted that the military would only appear before the panel if it received an invitation directly from the Lagos State Government, and not the panel.
“If we receive a letter from the state, we will go. Are we not under civil authorities? Are we not part of Nigerians? Have you forgotten that we did not go there (Lekki tollgate) on our own? It is the state government that constituted that panel of inquiry. So, if anybody needs to get in touch with us to come, it is still the state, not the members”, Olaniyi had said.
However, THEWILL gathered from an official of the Lagos State government that the Army has changed its position on the matter following the intervention of the state government and the military hierarchy in Abuja.
The Nigerian Army will send its team to the retired Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel on Saturday to present its case. “The earlier decision of the military not to appear before the panel was a slap on the face of the Lagos State Government that set up the panel and by extension an act of insubordination against the federal government, which okayed the setting up of the panel nationwide. In order not to be seen as embarrassing the state government or flouting the authority of the federal government, it had to change its mind after interventions from some quarters. Secondly, the army has to clear its name in the face of increasing allegations of human rights abuses and extrajudicial killings. The army is facing a lot of negative publicity and the international community is also taking notes. So, it is in the best interest of the army to submit to the civil authority and clear its name” the source explained.
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Efforts made by THEWILL to reach Olaniyi, the spokesman, 81 Division, Nigerian Army, on the development proved abortive.
