The operators of the Lekki Toll Gate, Lekki Concession Company (LCC) on Tuesday, said that the Closed-circuit television, CCTV at the plaza stopped working at 8:00pm on October 20 – the day soldiers allegedly shot #ENDSARS protesters at the plaza.
The Managing Director of LCC, Abayomi Omomuwa disclosed this when he submitted video footage recorded by the company’s surveillance camera to the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses & Lekki Toll Gate Incident, set up by the Lagos State Government to probe the Lekki shootings as well as complaints of human rights abuses against members of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
Soldiers had allegedly on the night of October 20 shot live bullets to disperse #EndSARS protesters that camped at the Lekki toll gate plaza, following the imposition of a 24-hour curfew by the state government.
This act of the soldiers has generated reactions from different quarters as many condemned the soldiers for opening fire on unarmed protesters. Although, the military had said that its men did not shoot at protesters.
Omomuwa submitted a hard drive containing the footage of what transpired at the toll plaza to the panel on Tuesday.
“I can confirm that inside here is the video footage that our surveillance camera was able to record on October 20, 2020,” Omomuwa said.
The hard drive has been admitted in evidence as containing the footage from the toll gate.
Omamuwa, however told the panel that the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) stopped recording at about 8pm due to alleged vandalization and fire outbreak at the toll gate.
The fire outbreak at the Ikoyi Bridge, he said affected the surveillance cameras and as such, stopped recording.