(Bloomberg) -- Nigerian authorities must stop their attempts to cover up the army's fatal shooting of unarmed protesters last week in the country's commercial hub, Lagos, rights group Amnesty International said.
“The initial denials of the involvement of soldiers in the shooting was followed by the shameful denial of the loss of lives as a result of the military's attack against the protests,” Amnesty's Nigeria spokesman Isa Sanusi said Wednesday in an emailed statement. “Many people are still missing since the day of the incident, and credible evidence shows that the military prevented ambulances from reaching the severely injured in the aftermath.”
At least 10 people were killed in the shooting, the rights group said last week.
The Nigerian army initially said on Twitter that no soldiers were present at the Lekki toll gate on Oct. 20 when protesters assembled in defiance of a curfew were fired upon. In another statement Tuesday, the military said the Lagos state government requested the army's assistance to help enforce the curfew, but still asserted that troops “did not shoot at any civilian.”
Amnesty said its investigations established that military vehicles left the Bonny Camp base in Lagos at 6:29 p.m. on the day in question and arrived at the protest site where troops opened fire at “approximately 6.45 p.m.”
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