Nigerian security forces opened fire on unarmed protesters in the nation’s largest city in October 2020, killing at least 15 and wounding dozens in what investigators called a “massacre,” according to a leaked report Tuesday.

The Lagos state judicial panel charged with interviewing witnesses and studying footage of the incident has determined that soldiers and police officers — who denied shooting live rounds — sprayed bullets into a peaceful crowd, according to two panel members.

The report offers the first official death toll from the violence. Previously, an investigation by Amnesty International found that at least 12 people died near a tollgate in the upscale Lagos suburb of Lekki.
The authors presented their findings to the state government Monday, said the panel members, who were not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. The 309-page document has yet to be officially published.

The Nigerian military and police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Word of the killings sparked international outrage last year as photos of bloodied protesters — some holding the Nigerian flag — flooded social media. Confusion abounded after security forces declared they had discharged only blanks meant to bruise and scare those breaking a curfew.

Nigeria’s information minister backed those claims, calling what transpired a “massacre without blood or bodies.”
Tens of thousands of demonstrators had been marching in cities across Africa’s most populous country for weeks against police brutality. They sought the end of a notorious unit called the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), which was widely known for abuses of power. The grass-roots movement went viral globally. Megastars including Beyoncé and Rihanna shared the #EndSARS hashtag.
“We need justice, not just reports,” said Rinu Oduala, an #EndSARS activist who worked with the panel. “The people who allowed this to happen are not ghosts or figments of our imaginations. They are real and should be made to face the law immediately.”

Before the massacre, hundreds of protesters had camped out near the Lekki tollgate, blasting music and sharing meals. Video captured people dancing, chanting and waving Nigerian flags. The gathering convened in the days after the president abolished the SARS unit, and protesters said they would not stop until they saw meaningful reform of the nation’s law enforcement.

The mood soured when soldiers arrived just before sundown. Some demonstrators sat cross-legged in quiet defiance, according to live streams from the evening. Then chaos broke out.
“The atrocious maiming and killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters, while sitting on the floor and waving their Nigerian flags, while singing the national anthem can be equated to a ‘massacre’ in context,” the report said.

At least 15 people died or went missing, the report said, with the missing presumed dead. Witnesses told investigators that the military had collected bodies at the scene in what the report described as a “coverup.”

Members of the Nigeria Police Force, who arrived shortly after the soldiers, also fired at people dashing away, the panel found. Investigators recovered shell casings of bullets used by both officers and soldiers on the streets.

Doctors at nearby hospitals confirmed treating dozens of people that night for military-grade bullet wounds. The report listed 33 victims with injuries.

Days later, as shock and fury swept Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari gave an emergency address — but made no mention of what happened in Lekki. Instead, he urged protesters to stand down.

“Constructively engage the government in finding solutions,” he said. “Your voice has been heard loud and clear, and we are responding.”