"The killing" - Part 2 - By Kemi Jinadu

#Writemas.......if you missed part one please click here.  Shivering and feeling so cold on the other side of the world while I sipped at my Mocha coffee, as I read.  I waited for an old-time friend, I arrived at the café which was supposed to be our meeting point way earlier than I had anticipated hence the coffee.  Suddenly, my phone beeped like about four times, I checked my phone for messages none, so I proceeded to go on social media, Instagram to be specific.

My DM was full of video links and clips, the first link I clicked on opened within seconds, I saw two women who wore white dresses and had caps attached to the back of their heads jumped off the balcony of a storey building.  Immediately, I knew who they were in terms of occupation another two men hurriedly approached the balcony; the sturdy-looking-not-so-tall man jumped without hesitating, the other tall man also in a white outfit stopped, looked down from the balcony, left then right.

“The whole world should come and see what is going on in Nigeria-Lagos, Doctors and nurses are jumping off the balcony, egba wa o, that is an hospital” an unknown male voice behind the video recording echoed, he seemed to be standing upstairs opposite the hospital edifice his camera-lens just zoomed on.

I could see the first man that jumped off the balcony which I assumed he’s also a doctor as well talking to a lady upstairs opposite the edifice he just jumped off from, but he was not audible enough couldn’t hear him.

“Dokita ijogbon e ma bo nibi,” a lady’s voice also reverberated behind the camera, guess she was standing next to the man video recording, one could sense a level of familiarity between them “etete ma bo,” the lady panickily added.

Suddenly I head boom, a sound that seemed like a gunshot “Yeah mo gbe!” the lady said.

The other tall man jumped within a swift at the sound of the gunshot, video camera started shaking vigorously that all we could see was the floor and a rustling sound became louder, followed by blankness, the video went off.

For a second, I was dumbfounded, there were so many questions running through my probing mind that I needed answers too, I haven’t gotten over the Endsars videos clips of the dead bodies, busted out intestine and other tragic clips/images I saw earlier prior to waiting in the café.

Everything just seemed to be going wrong in that part of the world, I was so deep and engrossed in thoughts that I was oblivious to my friend’s presence.

On the call of “Kemi-Arewa,” (a nickname, maybe not so much of nickname, a name those close to me are familiar with), at the third time of calling I jumped out of my reverie, a subject myself and my long-time friend ended up having an in-depth debate on as we make our way to the booked dinner restaurant.

This video didn’t at first make sense to me, the suspense the uncompleted incident that followed, the gunshot, hospital workers eloping for their lives, but it later did.

As I and my long-term friend had a deep conversation about the Endsars saga, we disagreed and agreed on several issues, during one of our arguments I decided to re-visit some of the tragic videos sent to me by Ttk readers that I’ve watched; to support and emphasis my point.

The next video link I clicked on aside those I mentioned above was streamed live, what looked like a river with human bodies still in outfits were floating on top of it.  A particular body stood out, there was blood stain on a dark-skin complexion man’s light blue T-shirt, spectators and maybe some family members gathered around the river because they looked so devastated.  I spotted a man wearing a red baseball cap with "Chinaza ekpere" in scripted in front of it, I remember that word because my long time Igbo friend says those words quite frequently. The muscular man with visible muscles that looked like they were about to burst out of his tight-fitted short sleeve shirt was wandering right in the middle of the river.  The water was high up the man’s waist, he dragged the bodies one at a time, looked intently then within seconds he let go off the bodies.  A woman cried out so bitterly, we couldn’t see the woman’s face because the person recording focused his camera on the river, suddenly there was gunshot again, the video ended.

For some seconds maybe minutes myself and my long-term friend was speechless, we were gobsmacked by what we just watched.

Curiosity and anxiety were an understated word, I became inquisitive, I wanted to know everything about the Endsars catastrophic saga, I needed answers to some questions looming over my thoughts.

So, when the Endsars investigation began, I made it an obligation to watch every video that pertain to the inquiry, listened to every bold witnesses.

A particular witness re-counted the poignant episode of what happened within forty -eight hours from the twentieth of October 2020.

The tall slim, skin colour of milk-chocolate spoke about lights going off when it became a bit dark while they were protesting, even the billboard light was suddenly switched off.

According to the witness, it was not yet curfew time, the curfew time on that day was changed by the government from 4pm to 11pm, at the time three van with the word "Awasec" plastered on both side of the van arrived with Armies.

The witness said it was about 5.30pm, the LCC building was near the toll gate, the protesters took advantage of the bright ray of light that shone onto the protest ground.   Suddenly, the LCC staff closed their gate, put padlock on the gate, switched off the light, as one of the organisers of the protest she asked questions and the LCC staff claimed the MD asked them to.

Another staff suspected to be an LCC staff started removing the cameras, his excuse was he does not want people to steal them.

The witness said the organisers were calling each other so that they could leave the vicinity as soon as possible, suddenly some armies walked towards the protesters who were singing the Nigeria’s national anthem and started shooting sporadically.

There was blood splattered everywhere, if they spot anyone holding their phones they shot at it, so many phones were on the floor, she said she called her friend to call for an ambulance while the witness laid flat on the ground.

Some of the protesters saw about three ambulances, those who stood up to alert the ambulances of their presence or who wanted to indicate the location of those who were severely injured were shot at, the witness revealed.

Ambulances started turning back as the armies spoke to the drivers one by one.

Most of the time when they come out to protest residents of the Shanti community who lived closed to the toll gate supported and joined them. Some of the Shanti people recognised the identity of the dead bodies, they tried to protect the bodies, the armies shot at them as they carted away with bodies.

The witness said she saw one of the armies dragged and carried a dead body then threw the body at the back of one of the army vans.

They were other bodies at the back of the van according to the witness.

Suddenly, the witness burst into tears, she said the soldier carried the dead man as if he was a toy, as if there was never life in the man before the killings.

Also, the witness spotted some armies picking something from the floor further away, she too decided to discreetly pick any live ammunition she found on the floor, the inquiry panel asked to see the bullets.  The witness did not hesitate to fish out a small carrier bag tied in knots then produced it for the Lagos investigative panel and jury to scrutinised.   

The army officers left at the early hours of the morning, she could not find other organisers of the Endsars protest, she started checking for bodies, most not all the bodies that were shot at were gone except those who managed to make it into the Shanti community, who narrowly escaped been shot at again.

Dead bodies were still on the floor, some of the Shanti resident later helped remove them, the darkness was a detriment also to the armies they were walking around while they used their torchlight to locate and remove lifeless bodies.

Residents of the Shanti community came out to help, give local first aid to those severely injured, and some of the ambulances who were sent away earlier did not go away some parked further away to avoid provoking the army officers. They came back to help casualties, and a lot of people were treated for free at the local nearby hospitals.  

Suddenly there was gunshot again, policemen getting out of a van with the inscription “Marako Police Division” were shooting sporadically towards the protest ground, people started running, screaming, and herding towards different directions.

A man shouted, “this way”, many of them ran towards the man ‘s direction, they kept running until they found themselves inside Shanti community by the river according to the witness.

The Shanti community were helping people escape through canoes, canoe was a part of their lifestyles.  Shanti resident lived in poverty but have a large heart, they would commute using the canoe from one end to the other, fishing was a major occupation, the men caught fishes gives them to their wives to dry and smoke then sell even on canoes.

Unexpectedly, a van with the inscription of “Marako Police Division” pulled up again at the Shanti River and started shooting at people who were about to escape via canoe.

According to the witness she saw a policeman run out of the van shoot at a man at close range, the man who was earlier assuring them they will be fine on the canoe, but that they must commute in twos to three on one canoe at a time, that it was a small canoe.

At this point the witness said she saw this man drop dead, she could not even think straight anymore, before she knew what was happening; somebody pulled her into the car and zoomed off in high speed.

For part 3 please click here here..........

Written By K Jinadu

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