The Labour Party had on Wednesday named the retired military officer as a member of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation.
A former Director of Information at the Nigerian Defence Headquarters, Maj. Gen. John Enenche (retd.), has explained why he denied the videos and photos of the Lekki Toll Gate shooting.
The Labour Party had on Wednesday named the retired military officer as a member of the Peter Obi Presidential Campaign Organisation.
SaharaReporters had reported how soldiers on October 20, 2020 opened fire on #EndSARS protesters, who had converged at the Lekki tollgate to protest against police brutality.
The incident triggered a global outrage, with calls for justice echoing from different parts of the world.
It was gathered that before the shooting started, some officials uninstalled Closed-Circuit Television cameras in the area.
The electricity at the protest area was also disconnected to prevent demonstrators from filming the attack.
Minutes later, heavily armed Nigerian Army personnel moved to the scene to complete the plan.
By the time sounds of their guns died down, dozens of protesters had been killed, many accounts have said.
Though the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu swiftly blamed “forces beyond our control” for the attack, the army in a statement later revealed that the soldiers were invited to the scene of protest by the governor.
The day after the incident, Enenche while speaking to Arise TV claimed the Instagram live footage of popular Nigerian disc jockey, Obianuju Catherine Udeh, better known as DJ Switch, was fake.
He also denied the presence of soldiers at the Lekki Tollgate.
“These videos were cropped and photoshopped. If not that I am not permitted I would have forwarded it to you. Up till this morning, I got analyst to analyse the video and they said it was cropped and put together,” the retired military officer had said.
In a statement on Friday, Enenche, said his actions as former military spokesman was guided by “overriding interest of Nigerians at heart based on the oath of allegiance I swore on commission into military service.”
He added, “Following my appointment on the campaign council of Labour Party, there were reactions on the social media about my pronouncement concerning a video shot at the scene of the ENDARS incident at Lekki toll gate on 20 October 2020.
“Every one that commented in any way was right based on the information at their disposal and individual analysis. Personally and professionally, I worked with the overriding interest of Nigerians at heart based on the oath of allegiance I swore on commission into military service which is sacrosanct. I sincerely shared in the pains of that breaking news through the social media as it were.
“I made bold to openly and objectively support the candidature of HE Mr Peter Obi and Dr Yusuf Ahmed-Datti without fear or contraction. All based on my knowledge of the duo for about 17 years and 5 years respectively, that they can provide quality leadership for the Nation that will guarantee effective followership.”
Though the Labour Party had said it would review the campaign council list, it gave no clarification on whether Enenche would be taken off the list or retained.