The Nigerian Army Council has approved the promotion of Lieutenant Colonel S.O. Bello, the commanding officer of the 65 Batallion, which was drafted to Lekki tollgate on the evening of October 20, 2020, to the rank of a Colonel.
On Monday, a report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel on Police Brutality,said contrary to government claims, protesters were killed at the tollgate in what the panel portrayed as a massacre.
According to the report, around nine people were affirmed dead at the Lekki toll plaza when soldiers commanded by Bello drove there to contain #EndSARS protesters on October 20, 2020.
Titled, ‘Report of Lekki Incident Investigation Of 20th October 2020’, a copy of the 309-page report which was leaked said at least 48 protesters were either shot dead, injured with bullet wounds or assaulted by soldiers.
Major Gen. Ahmed Ibrahim Taiwo of the 81 Division Intelligence Brigade had while showing up before the Lagos Judicial Panel in November 2020 revealed that Bello was the authority on the ground, who provided the request for the soldiers to deliver projectiles at the cost door.
He had said, “Bello had arrived the scene first before Omata, as the whole 81 Division Garrison had been given the mandate to secure the whole Eti-Osa corridor. Omata had left Obalende to meet up with Bello and patrol the whole area.
“When I called Bello, he said that while they were being deployed, they were attacked by hoodlums and they released some shots into the air. I also asked him if anybody had died as it is being reported over the Internet and he replied ‘negative’ that nobody had died that he had only seen two people who had fainted and were revived.
“I had called three times and after speaking with Bello, I spoke to General Omata using Bello’s phone. It was one of those instances that when I called Bello he said Omata was with him. I spoke with Omata and asked if deaths were recorded and he told me no. I called him twice and he said no, that the place had been cleared.”
It will be recalled that Bello refused to show up before the panel when summoned to defend all the allegations levelled against him.
At the point when the matter was called, Jonathan Ogunsanya, one of the registrars attached to the panel, said the Kogi State-conceived military officer wouldn’t get the summons given to him.
Military sources on Thursday said Bello, in spite of commanding the group that unleashed mayhem on defenceless protesters, has been elevated to the rank of a Colonel.
“Lt Col S.O. Bello has just been promoted to the rank of a Colonel. He is the commanding officer who led the Lekki massacre,” one of the sources, a colonel told SaharaReporters.
It was also discovered that the Army Council on October 28 met to endorse the promotion of officers.
It was discovered that the promotion would favour certain Majors, Lieutenant Colonels and Colonels with new ranks.
Calls put across by Reporters to the Director, Army Public Relations, Onyema Nwachukwu were not addressed nor returned. He had likewise not answered to an instant message shipped off his line, at the hour of this report.
Source:Sahara Reporters
