Popular Nigerian disc jockey, DJ Switch, who live streamed the Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos State shooting and allegedly played a role in saving the lives of many who sustained injuries when security agents opened fire on #EndSARS protesters on Tuesday, has said that her life is being threatened for speaking up.
In a video she posted on her Instagram page, DJ Switch asked the authorities not to insult the intelligence of Nigerians when giving their own account of what happened on that day.
According to the disc jockey, she and others present counted over 15 bodies from the #EndSARS protest that ended in the Nigerian Army firing at protesters.
She said: “I just want to clear a few things that I have been seeing online.
“To our leaders, I urge you please do not minimise the suffering of families.
“Do not insult the grief of Nigerians, do not insult the intelligence of Nigerians.
“Do not insult the pains that families are facing.
“People were falling left and right.
“Yes there were soldiers there.
“Another part that people are not talking about is that the police also came.
“The SARS people we are talking about, they also came, some maybe 40 to 45 minutes after the soldiers left.
“We were teargassed.
“The teargas was like Cotonou pepper mixed with acid.
“We were running.
“We would run and we would come back and the only thing we fought with was our flags.
“We would sit on the floor and we would raise our hands up, raising our flags and singing the national anthem.
“That was all we had.
“They put off the lights.
“Even if there was no power in that axis, there was always light at the tollgate.
“There was no lights.
“The street lights were off.
“It was pitch black.
“A boy jumped on me and was shouting cover her, cover her.
“I didn’t even understand why he did that.
“They shot that boy on my back.
“I fell and while the soldiers were picking their shells, we were running around and picking their shells too because we wanted proof.
“The military, they were there on Nigerian soil, killing Nigerian citizens.
“The police and their SARS like people came doing the same thing, aiming and shooting.
“They were pointing the gun at us and shooting live bullets.
“Who takes live bullets to a protest?
“To our leaders, please I urge you to not minimise the sufferings of families, do not insult the intelligence of Nigerians and the pains that families are facing.”
However, DJ Switch expressed regrets that she and others allowed the military to take the bodies of the deceased persons.
She said: “Something I think of in hindsight I wish we hadn’t done it, but we carried dead bodies and dropped at the feet of the soldiers so that they could see what they did to us.
“When I asked their unit commander: why are you killing us?
“I wish we didn’t do that because they ended up throwing the bodies in their van.
“This was up until the next morning.”
She dissociated herself from the social media accounts claiming she said 78 persons died.
She said she and others counted 15 dead bodies.
DJ Switch said: “I never said 78 people died.
“What I do know is that when I was doing the live, seven people had died.
“When my phone died, we had counted about 15 people.
“I don’t know if it was more than that.
“We had a lot of people stray bullet wound, gunshot wounds, and all that.
“People did die.
“It wasn’t photoshopped.
“I must be a tech genius to photoshop a live feed.”
She dismissed reports that her cousin died in the incident.
Thanking everyone for their prayers and support, DJ Switch said: “I just want to thank everyone for the support, well wishes.
“Thank you for your prayers, for joining us in the struggle at the Lekki toll gate, for sounding the alarm and for alerting the public.
“Most importantly, my brothers and sisters at the toll gate.
“I have never met a finer set of people in my life.
“I am sorry I haven’t said anything in a couple of days, I didn’t realise I sustained some injuries and I had to get treated for that.
“I especially want to thank a few people who at the risk of their own safety came out to get me as my own life was being threatened.
“My life was being threatened for speaking up.
“Thank you Obi, Big N, Jimmy, Richard and Mr P.
“Thank you all for getting me out safely.
“We must continue to move.
“We must continue.
“If we stop I fear it will probably be the next 60 years before we talk about this again.
“We must continue peacefully.
“I condemn any sort of violence.
“I condemn the burning of buses and peoples livelihood.”
