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Lekki shootings: LCC denies removing CCTV from tollgates

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The Lekki Concession Company has denied removing CCTV cameras from the Lekki toll plaza shortly before the shootings by soldiers.

Viral photos had shown some employees of the company removing what appeared to be CCTV cameras from the toll plaza a few hours before the shootings began.

It was alleged that the removal of the cameras were part of a plot to cover up the extrajudicial killings that were to take place. The Lekki-Ikoyi link bridge, which is also managed by the LCC, was subsequently set on fire by some hoodlums.

In a statement titled, ‘LCC Condemns the Shooting of Unarmed Protesters and the Disruption of the Peaceful March at the Lekki Toll Plaza’ on Thursday, the company said there was no instruction from any quarters to remove CCTV.

LCC stated, “The closed-circuit television systems are Motibox digital cameras. They were not removed and are still installed in the lanes even now. There was no instruction from anyone to remove the perimeter CCTV cameras.

“Removing them will require the use of machinery to reach the heights that they have been installed and are still installed.”

While commiserating with #EndSARS protesters, the company said its electricity supply was cut off by an independent power supplier and the lights were turned off from the source.

It said it withdrew its staff from the toll plaza because of the curfew imposed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

The LCC added, “The LCC receives power from the IPP grid. The power, albeit stable, is taken off from time to time. At such times, LCC relies on the backup generators for power supply. However, following the declaration of the curfew by the state governor, LCC withdrew all her staff from the office locations.

“This is the reason why the lights would not be restored when the mains from IPP went off temporarily. This is verifiable.”

The company condemned the shootings at the toll plaza and apologised to protesters for the unfortunate incident.
“We sincerely regret this unfortunate incident and again condemn the shooting of unarmed protesters at Lekki toll plaza and other locations in the state,” the firm said.

The LCC stated that it had always shown support for the protests, adding it even provided lights and toilets for the youths who had gathered at the Lekki toll plaza for several days to protest police brutality.

It said as the protests progressed, some of its equipment including air conditioners were looted.

It added, “As the protests progressed, we received feedback that some of the tolling equipment were being looted. We recovered items daily with the help of some of the protesters. Such items included air conditioners, violation alarm bells, monitors, keyboards etc.

“On October 20, we received feedback that some of the tolling equipment were being pulled off hence we went into the lanes to recover more items including analogue Bosch tolling devices used to monitor transactions carried out in the toll lanes.”

On Wednesday, advertising company, Loatsad Promomedia Limited, which operates digital billboards at the toll plaza, had stated that it turned off the power of the billboards which would have illuminated the plaza because the governor had imposed a curfew.

The company, owned by Seyi Tinubu, the son of All Progressives Congress leader, Bola Tinubu, had claimed that the action was not taken in order to cover up any crimes.

Bola Tinubu had also denied reports that he was the owner of the tollgate company.

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