Presidential spokesperson Bayo Onanuga has criticised Peter Obi over his #EndSARS anniversary message, insisting that no protesters were killed by soldiers at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos in October 2020.
Onanuga made the remarks on Wednesday, October 21, 2026, after Obi commemorated the sixth anniversary of the incident, calling for justice and accountability for victims of the #EndSARS protests.
Obi had stated that peaceful protesters were met with gunfire on October 20, 2020, leaving people dead and others injured. He urged Nigerians never to forget the incident or normalise injustice.
Reacting in a post on X, Onanuga described Obi as someone who repeatedly spreads what he called lies. He maintained that soldiers fired into the air rather than directly at protesters and alleged that the incident was exploited to advance an agenda against Lagos State.
However, the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry, which investigated the incident, reported that protesters were shot, injured and killed, describing the events as a massacre in context. The Nigerian Army had initially denied its personnel were present before later acknowledging their deployment and maintaining that they fired into the air.
Six years after the incident, questions surrounding casualties, accountability and the circumstances of the shootings remain contentious, with renewed calls for justice during this year’s anniversary.