By Ade Jacobs
Brigadier General Ibrahim Taiwo, the officer representing Nigerian Army at the panel set up by the Lagos State Government, to probe the Lekki shooting has been promoted to the rank of major-general, according to a report by The Cable.
The online newspaper said Taiwo was elevated to the rank of a major-general after the military board approved the promotion of senior officers.
Taiwo is the Commander of 81 Division of the Nigeria Army, Lagos.
The army general has been criticised for making controversial statements at the panel on what actually transpired at the Lekki Toll Gate where soldiers reportedly opened fire on peaceful protesters on October 20.
One of such testimonies he gave was that the soldiers sent to the venue did not kill any protester. He also claimed that no live bullets were used against the protesters by soldiers who he said only went there to disperse the angry youths by the Lagos State Government’s directive.
The Cable News Network (CNN), an American cable news outfit, a few days ago, released a report where it detailed how some protesters were killed by the soldiers, even though the federal government has rebuffed the report.
Amnesty International, a world rights body had earlier reported that protesters were actually killed.
General Taiwo is the son of late Colonel Ibrahim Taiwo, a former military governor of Kwara State, who was accused of ordering the killing of hundreds of civilians in Asaba, Delta State capital, during the Nigeria-Biafra war and also participated in many coup d’etat in Nigeria.