Soldiers shoot into protest crowd in Lagos
LAGOS: Soldiers opened fire on Nigerians protesting against police brutality in the Lekki district of the commercial capital Lagos yesterday and at least two people were shot, four witnesses told Reuters.
Thousands of Nigerians have demonstrated nationwide every day for nearly two weeks against a police unit, the Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS), that rights groups had for years accused of extortion, harassment, torture and murders.
The unit was disbanded on October 11 but the protests have persisted with demonstrators calling for a raft of law enforcement reforms.
‘‘They started firing ammunition towards the crowd. They were firing into the crowd,’’ security officer Alfred Ononugbo (55) said, after the soldiers opened fire.
‘‘I saw the bullet hit one or two persons.’’
The condition of those two people was not immediately known. Amnesty International has said at least 15 people had been killed since the protests began.
In a Twitter post, the Nigerian Army said no soldiers were at the scene of the shooting in Lekki, an upmarket district where the toll gate has been the site of daily protests in Lagos, Africa’s biggest city. — Reuters