A forensics company, Sentinel Forensic Limited, has said bullets expelled from firearms during the #EndSARS protest at Lekki Tollgate in Lagos on October 20, 2020, were from the Nigerian Army.
The company’s representative, Joseph Funsho, disclosed this during an appearance before the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution which sat on Friday.
According to Funsho, the live ammunition (bullets) were discovered to have been registered by the Nigerian Army.
“The live ammunition presented by the Nigerian Army is of the same calibre as the cartridge casing submitted by the judicial panel,” Funsho said.
However, he said the blanks did not match the records from the Nigerian Army’s inventory.
“The blank ammunition submitted by the Nigerian Army is not of the same calibre as the cartridge casings submitted by the judicial panel.
“The blank ammunition submitted by the Nigerian Army is not designed to be fired by rifles chambered to 7.62 x 39mm,” he explained.
The case was subsequently adjourned till Saturday (today) for further hearing.
Recall that in November 2020, Commander of the 81 Military Intelligence Brigade, Brig. Ahmed Taiwo, appeared before the panel, insisting that only blank bullets containing gunpowder were fired at the Lekki Tollgate on October 20.
Taiwo also insisted that the military only fired into the air and not directly at the #EndSARS protesters.
He then explained that the blank bullets used were not capable of causing any damage to the flesh, adding that if real bullets were indeed fired, one bullet had the potency to kill three persons at one shot.
The army had initially described reports of its involvement in the shooting as fake news before admitting to being present at the scene.
Copyright PUNCH.
