Five Years After Lekki Shootings, Nigeria Still Awaits Justice and Reform

By Angel Ike

Global Rights has urged the Nigerian government to identify and prosecute those responsible for the Lekki killings.

The organisation also called for the implementation of comprehensive policing reforms based on judicial recommendations, respect for constitutional rights during protests, and an end to the silencing of dissent through the misuse of laws.

On October 20, 2020, Nigerian security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters at Lekki Toll Gate, deepening public distrust in Nigeria’s democracy.

Executive Director of Global Rights, Abiodun Baiyewu, decried that five years later, accountability remains absent: judicial reports have been ignored, promised police reforms remain unfulfilled, and civic space continues to shrink.

The #EndSARS protests demanded justice, police reform, and respect for human rights. However, Nigeria’s recent 2024 protests #EndBadGovernance revealed the same systemic failures, met again with violence, arrests, and repression under questionable laws such as the Cybercrime Act.

Global Rights stressed that the right to protest must be defended as a cornerstone of democracy, not treated as a threat. As the saying goes, justice delayed is democracy denied.