Yesterday was one of the darkest days in Nigeria, and on the 20th of October 2020, about 6:50 p.m., members of the Nigerian Army opened fire on unarmed and defenseless #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos State, Nigeria. The protest, part of a nationwide movement against police brutality, had drawn large numbers of peaceful demonstrators calling for the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

BACKGROUND

The ENDSARS protest was a decentralised social campaign marked by series of mass protests against police brutality in Nigeria, focusing on the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a police unit implicated in repeated torture, extortion, harassment, and extrajudicial killings.

The campaign began in 2016 when notable activists like Segun Awosanya, popularly known as Segalink started raising awareness on social media. It gained momentum over the years when other prominent voices and youth leaders joined the campaign using hashtags like #EndSARS to call for the disbandment and reform of the unit.

In October 2020, protests broke out in several parts of the nation following the release of several videos showing violent demonstrations of SARS one of which was the alleged killing of a young man in Delta State as reported by Al-Jazeera. Authorities in a bid to maintain control assured that the video was fake and went as far as arresting the man who made the video, but this only fueled the rage of already angry Nigerians.

Nigerians took to social media and in no time the hashtag #ENDSARS was topping global trends on X formerly known as Twitter, with famous celebrities supporting this movement. Names like Davido, WizKid, Falz among many others supported this movement.

By this time, the movement had grown into widespread demonstrations across the country, prompting the BBC to report that these were “the biggest protests in a generation.”

Following the series of protests and social media tags, the Nigerian Police force on the 11th of October announced that SARS would be dissolved, but many protesters remained skeptical understanding that their dissolution wasn't the actual solution, as their duties could be easily assigned to another body and they would still have the same problem. This widespread distrust set the stage for the tragic event that occurred at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2025.

20-10-20

On the eve of October 20, members of the ENDSARS protest had peacefully gathered at the Admiralty Circle Plaza, Lekki Toll Gate when they were met with an open fire that killed at least 12 protesters.

Amaka, a 30-year-old volunteer of the ENDSARS protest now living in the US gave her report on the chaos that occurred that evening as reported by The Guardian. Although she didn't witness the shooting directly, she saw blood, heard screams and witness people trample upon one another in bid to escape the fiery bullets members of the Nigerian Army had released that night.

According to her, that night started relatively calm and even though soldiers surrounded them, they and to be precise she wasn't threatened as she felt there were lots of people present and they wouldn't dare open fire also considering the fact that even though it was getting dark, it was bright enough for people to see what was going on.

All this changed when the lights went out and the peaceful protesters were met with bullets. Traumatized by this experience, she left Nigeria for her own safety.

Among the crowd, DJ switch with courage pulled out her phone and live streamed the shooting on Instagram, capturing soldiers firing at peaceful protesters and attempting to remove injured victims. Her live broadcast quickly spread across social media, providing real-time documentation of the chaos and brutality at Lekki Toll Gate.

This singular act of bravery by DJ Switch was arguably pivotal in changing the narrative surrounding the Lekki Toll Gate incident. Both federal and state authorities initially employed every tactic to deny, gaslight, and absolve themselves of responsibility for the killings. To date, the country has yet to release an official account of the human cost of the night of 20 October 2020.

The Nigerian Army’s official Twitter handle dismissed reports of soldiers at Lekki that night as “fake news,” while Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu admitted on CNN that soldiers were present and that two people had died. Eyewitness accounts, however, suggested the casualties were far higher. DJ Switch herself estimated at least 15 deaths, capturing live footage that became undeniable proof of the assault.

JUDICIAL PANEL FINDINGS

Following the tragic event, the Lagos State government established a Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution to investigate the October 20 event and the broader issues surrounding the ENDSARS protest. The panel, headed by retired judge Doris Okuwobi, was tasked with determining if the shootings at the Lekki Toll Gate qualified to be termed a "massacre".

The panel’s report, which was submitted to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, was leaked to the news media the following Monday. It listed 48 people as shooting victims.

The army who had maintained that they only fired blanks to disperse protesters were quickly exposed when the judicial panel reported evidence that soldiers “actually shot blank and live bullets directly and pointedly into the midst of protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate, with the deliberate intention to assault, maim, and kill.” It also noted that the soldiers turned back ambulances that arrived to help wounded protesters.

After repeated non-compliance from the military and back-and-forth exchanges between the panel and the Nigerian Army, the panel ultimately concluded that the army’s actions that night constituted a massacre and recommended restitution for the victims.

Also on July 10, 2024, the ECOWAS Court of Justice ruled that the Nigerian government was guilty of human rights abuses for their actions during the #EndSARS protest at the Lekki tollgate in October 2020.

The Court, finding that Nigeria violated many international human rights standards, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples' Rights, ordered the Nigerian government to pay 10 million Naira in compensation to each victim named in the suit.

LEGACY AND IMPACT

The Lekki Toll Gate shooting left a deep scar in Nigeria’s collective memory. It exposed not only the extent of systemic abuse but also the tragic reality that the very institutions meant to protect citizens; security forces and government bodies were the ones inflicting violence.

In hindsight, the #EndSARS movement gained international attention and highlighted the power of youth-led activism in today's society.

Ultimately, the Lekki Toll Gate massacre serves as a reminder of the price Nigerians paid in their fight against police brutality and systemic injustice, issues that still linger on to this day. 20-10-20 is a reminder that the courage of those who laid down their lives that night must not be in vain, and we must keep the struggle, the fight for more accountability, reform, and a just society.