The Nigerian Army has a History of Lies, Fraud, and Deception —Falana

The Nigerian human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), asserted on Wednesday, October 28, that the Nigerian army should not be trusted as it has a history of lies, fraud, and deception.

He stated that Nigerians and the international community should not believe the Nigerian Army’s explanations on the shooting of the #EndSARS protesters in the Lekki area of Lagos.

To further corroborate his point, he made reference to the December 2015 Shiites incident in Zaria, Kaduna.

He emphasized, “Nobody should believe the military because it has a history of lies, fraud and deception.”

He explained, “Just in December 2015, the same Chief of Army Staff, Gen. (Tukur) Buratai claimed that there was a traffic jam in Zaria and the big man wanted to move and because of that traffic, he got soldiers from the first division in Kaduna to mow down Shiites.

“And what was the explanation? That the Shiites wanted to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff and about six or seven persons died.

“But in the Commission of Inquiry set up by the Kaduna State government, we were told that indeed 347 Nigerians were killed by the military. No autopsy, no postmortem, nothing was done. Their bodies were taken away in the dead of the night and given a mass burial.

“And people will ask you if anybody lost his child in Lekki, why have they not come up? Who has come up in the case of Zaria? Because you must understand the environment under which we operate.

“By the way, some of those injured in Lekki had to forcefully discharge themselves because they were told in the hospital that they were going to be held liable for the riot in the town. And so, everybody had to move.

“But as of today, the governor of Lagos State has admitted that two people lost their lives. The circumstances would have to be explained later but those two were among those shot by the soldiers,” the Senior Advocate of Nigeria stated.

Falana, said this at the “#EndSARS Zoom Meeting Global,” which was hosted by Sahara Reporters publisher, Omoyele Sowore.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Army has issued a statement on Tuesday night, stating that the Lagos State government invited its troops to enforce the curfew imposed on the state.

It however, denied the alleged shooting of protesters in Lekki toll gate.

The force also disclosed that its personnel acted within the confines of the Rules of Engagement for Internal Security operations.