Sowore vows justice on sixth anniversary of #EndSARS massacre
Omoyele Sowore
Abdullateef Fowewe
African Action Congress (AAC) 2027 presidential candidate Omoyele Sowore has renewed calls for accountability over the Lekki Toll Gate shootings, vowing that a government under his leadership would identify and prosecute those responsible.
In a post on X on Tuesday marking six years since the incident, Sowore wrote, “THE #EndSARS AT SIX: SIX YEARS OF BLOOD, LIES AND IMPUNITY! #SOWORE2027 GOVERNMENT WILL FISH OUT THE KILLERS BEHIND THE LEKKI TOLL GATE MASSACRE!”
He recalled launching a nationwide call to action against police brutality on 4 October 2020 and stated that Nigerian youths rose against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) over “brutality, torture, extortion, and extrajudicial killings.”
On 20 October 2020, he said, “the Nigerian state, through its military responded to peaceful protesters with bullets in what became known as the #lekkitollgatemassacre.”
Sowore posed a series of questions: “Six years later, WHERE ARE THE KILLERS? WHO ORDERED THE SHOOTINGS AT #LekkiTollGate? WHO HAS BEEN PROSECUTED? WHY ARE THE VICTIMS STILL WAITING FOR JUSTICE?”
He criticised the lack of action against Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, military and police commanders, and others linked to the events under the previous administration of Muhammadu Buhari, while also referencing alleged involvement by figures connected to the current government.
“NO JUSTICE! NO CLOSURE! NO FORGIVENESS FOR IMPUNITY!” he declared, adding that under a Sowore administration, investigations would be reopened “to uncover the full chain of command, identify those who ordered, authorized, and carried out unlawful killings, and ensure that everyone found culpable faces justice, regardless of rank, political connections, or position.”
The #EndSARS protests erupted across Nigeria in early October 2020, driven largely by young people demanding an end to police brutality, particularly by the SARS unit.
Demonstrations peaked at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, where protesters sat peacefully, waved the Nigerian flag and sang the national anthem.
On the night of 20 October 2020, soldiers opened fire on the gathering.
A Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry later described the incident as a “massacre in context,” finding that army personnel shot, injured and killed unarmed protesters without provocation.
The panel reported multiple casualties, including confirmed deaths and people missing and presumed dead, and noted that both blank and live ammunition were used.
It also found that the Lagos State government had invited the army and that CCTV footage had been manipulated.
The Lagos State government rejected key aspects of the panel’s findings in a subsequent white paper, disputing the scale of deaths and the “massacre” characterisation.
No senior military or political figures have faced successful prosecution related to the shootings in the years since.
On the sixth anniversary, civil society groups including the Youth Rights Campaign and Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa continued to demand prosecutions, reparations and implementation of earlier panel recommendations and a 2024 ECOWAS Court judgment that held Nigeria liable for rights violations.
