Peter Obi’s Party NDC Names Ex-General Who Dismissed Lekki Sh0oting Videos As ‘Photoshopped’ Campaign Security Chief

Peter Obi’s Party NDC Names Ex-General Who Dismissed Lekki Shooting Videos As ‘Photoshopped’ Campaign Security Chief

Enenche’s appointment was announced, among others, on Sunday, as part of the newly constituted campaign committee of the NDC, a party platform Peter Obi is now using to prosecute his 2027 ambition.

The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) has named former Director of Information at the Nigerian Defence Headquarters, Maj. Gen. John Enenche (Rtd.), who described videos of the Lekki Tollgate shooting as “photoshopped,” as Director of Security and Intelligence of its National Campaign Council ahead of the 2027 presidential election.

Enenche’s appointment was announced, among others, on Sunday, as part of the newly constituted campaign committee of the NDC, a party platform Peter Obi is now using to prosecute his 2027 ambition.

In October 2022, he was initially listed among the 1,234 members of Peter Obi’s Presidential Campaign Organisation under the Labour Party ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

The list named Enenche as a member of the Labour Party campaign team expected to mobilise voters nationwide.

The appointment immediately triggered outrage, especially among youths and supporters of the #EndSARS movement who formed the core of the Obidient Movement that powered Obi’s 2023 run.

This was because Enenche as then Director of Defence Information at the Defence Headquarters in 2020 was the face of the military’s denial of the Lekki shooting.

On October 20, 2020, soldiers of the Nigerian Army opened fire on unarmed youths protesting police brutality at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos, after CCTV cameras were reportedly removed and power supply to the area was cut off.

Peaceful protesters were reportedly shot with several killed and many injured, in an incident that drew global condemnation.

A day after the massacre, on October 21, 2020, Enenche appeared on Arise TV and claimed the damning Instagram Live video recorded by popular Disc Jockey, Obianuju Catherine Udeh (DJ Switch), which showed soldiers shooting and victims bleeding, was fake.

“These videos were cropped and photoshopped. If not that I am not permitted, I would have forwarded it to you. Up till this morning, I got analysts to analyse the video and they said it was cropped and put together,” he said on live television at the time.

He also initially denied that soldiers were present at the tollgate.

The Nigerian Army later contradicted him, admitting that its personnel were deployed to the Lekki Tollgate at the invitation of Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who himself had initially blamed the attack on “forces beyond our direct control.”

Soldiers involved in the operation later confirmed they were acting on the governor’s request.

Following the public backlash that greeted his inclusion in Obi’s 2023 team, the Labour Party was forced to backtrack.

The party and the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Organisation subsequently announced that Enenche had been dropped from the campaign council with campaign spokespersons stating that the earlier list was a draft and would be reviewed to reflect the values of the movement.

Obi himself, in a series of tweets at the time, appeared to distance his campaign from the Lekki denial, insisting that his campaign would not whitewash history or disregard the sacrifices of Nigerian youths.

Now, nearly five years after the Lekki massacre and three years after he was dropped from the 2023 campaign, Enenche has not only been brought back by Peter Obi but elevated to a far more sensitive and strategic position.

As Director of Security and Intelligence for the NDC National Campaign Council, he will be in charge of security strategy, intelligence gathering and safety of campaign activities nationwide for the 2027 polls.

The appointment is already raising fresh questions about Obi’s commitment to justice for #EndSARS victims, especially as the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS-Related Abuses had in its November 2021 report, affirmed that the Nigerian Army shot at protesters at Lekki Tollgate, resulting in deaths and injuries, and recommended sanctions.

To date, Enenche has never publicly retracted his “photoshopped” claim nor apologised to victims and families of the Lekki shooting.

Critics argue that appointing a man who defended the massacre to head security intelligence for a campaign that prides itself on youth support and accountability sends a contradictory signal ahead of 2027.