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Lekki’s tollgate in Lagos, Nigeria’s vast megalopolis of 20 million people, has been frozen since October when security forces fired on peaceful protesters.
At least 10 people were killed by security forces on October 20, Amnesty International said at the time, a charge denied by the Nigerian military.
Four months have passed since, but the signs of that brutal night are still visible at the toll booth: the walls are riddled with bullets and the windows are smashed.
Cars circulate freely but the company responsible for collecting the toll funds has not yet returned.
Red graffiti proclaiming #EndSARS is everywhere.
Shooting witness: Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka. By PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (AFP) The hashtag, named after SARS police forces accused of abuse, has come to represent the movement against brutality and bad governance that swept Africa’s most populous country last October.
Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka, who was in Lekki on October 20, said some of his friends just want to forget, to erase what happened from their memories.
But she “cannot afford to be silent”.
“I was on stage asking people to sit down and raise their flags, and then they started shooting. Immediately people were falling, ”said the young woman, pointing to where she was standing in the back of a truck transformed into a stage.
“I witnessed around six lifeless bodies on the ground,” Adeyinka said.
Since then, she and her friends have tried to help those who were injured that night, and “speak out for those who are afraid to speak”.
Panic attacks
With the support of high profile celebrities around the world, thousands of young Nigerians, for the most part, took to the streets last year in the biggest spectacle of popular power in decades.
The toll has become a symbol of last year’s protests against police brutality. By PIUS UTOMI EKPEI (AFP) Four months later, complete silence seems to have descended on the movement, with those responsible for the killings still to face justice.
According to Amnesty International, key figures in the leaderless campaign have been pressured by the authorities and subjected to campaigns of intimidation, harassment and denigration.
Twenty activists saw their bank accounts frozen for three months. Adeyinka says she received anonymous calls, threatening her.
This month, a Nigerian court ordered the Central Bank to unblock 20 bank accounts linked to the protests.
Since the crackdown, “a deep trauma has existed,” said Francis Toluse, of the Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative (MANI) charity, which provided advice to protesters.
“There are more people coming in with panic attacks, as is feared. Some are even afraid to move because they have this idea that the police are going to shoot them.”
The crackdown on protesters at the Lekki tollgate sparked riots and looting. By Sophie BOUILLON (AFP) Among those traumatized are those who survived Lekki, but also those who followed him on social media – the shoot was broadcast live on Instagram.
Despite the trauma, there was a timid effort to revive the movement last week, with fresh calls to occupy the tollgate and demand justice.
Investigation
Last Saturday around 40 protesters showed up in Lekki and in front of television cameras were quickly stopped by officers, who were deployed in large numbers.
A police van had been parked right in front of the cameras, as if to encourage the filming of the arrests.
“That’s what they want, to scare us, everyone said to me ‘don’t go, you’re going to be arrested! “Exclaimed a protester.
All have been released on bail but are still under investigation for alleged breach of the peace.
Two days earlier, authorities had warned protesters not to show up, saying an investigation into the Lekki shooting was underway.
Demonstrations and roadblocks in Lagos on October 20, the day of the Lekki shooting. By Gillian HANDYSIDE (AFP) Judicial panels have been set up across the country to investigate police abuse, including what happened on October 20 in Lagos.
The military initially denied responsibility for the killings. They later admitted to firing blanks to dispel a crowd of people who defied a curfew. Real bullets were only fired in the air, they said.
The proceedings before the Lagos court have stalled, with military officials failing to appear three times.
“The government is trying to silence people, to instill fear in us so that we don’t talk,” Adeyinka said.
“I’m not afraid of anything, whatever it takes for justice to prevail, for the dead to be heard, we will have to.”
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