#EndSARS: We either voice out now or risk being killed by insecurity, says DJ Switch
Catherine Udeh, the Nigerian entertainer better known as DJ Switch, has reacted to the report presented by the Lagos judicial panel of inquiry into the Lekki tollgate shooting of last year.
The disc jockey, who filmed the infamous shooting of EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate in October 2020, had gone into hiding over alleged threats to her life for recording the military crackdown.
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There have been varied reports on the activities of security operatives at the tollgate during the shooting.
Lai Mohammed, the minister for information, had on several occasions stated that lives were not lost during the EndSARS protest at Lekki.
But the panel set up by the Lagos government to probe the cases of police brutality recently listed 48 casualties of the protest.
It established, contrary to the federal government’s claims, that nine citizens died and four others went missing.
The panel also said the killing of unarmed protesters at the tollgate could be described in the context of a “massacre”.
Reacting to the report, DJ Switch, whose account of the massacre had been discredited by state forces, argued in a tweet on Tuesday that “the truth needs no defense.”
“Shattered so many lives, tried to destroy mine. Only for what you desperately tried to hide to be made public… by you! The truth needs no defense!” the tweet taunting the state and federal government read.
In its report, the panel said: “Officers of the Nigerian Army shot, injured and killed unarmed helpless and defenseless protesters, without provocation or justification, while they were waving the Nigerian Flag and singing the National Anthem and the manner of assault and killing could in context be described as a massacre.
“The Panel also found that the conduct of the Nigerian Army was exacerbated by its refusal to allow ambulances render medical assistance to victims who required such assistance.
“The Army was also found not to have adhered to its own rules of engagement. The Panel found that the Nigerian Police Force deployed its officers to the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the 20th October 2020.
“And between that night and the morning of the 21st of October, 2020, its officers shot at, assaulted, and battered unarmed protesters, which led to injuries and deaths.”
