UPDATE 2-Amnesty disputes Nigerian army claim it did not shoot Lagos civilians

(Adds effort to reach army for further comment)
By Camillus Eboh and Paul Carsten
ABUJA, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Nigeria's Lagos state government
asked the army to intervene to restore order amid anti-police
brutality protests, but soldiers did not shoot civilians, the
military said, an assertion an Amnesty International
investigation disputed on Wednesday.
Nigeria has been on edge following one of its biggest social
upheavals in 20 years. Demonstrations across the country turned
violent on Oct. 20 when witnesses in Lagos said the military
opened fire on peaceful protesters shortly after local
authorities imposed a 24-hour curfew, drawing international
condemnation.
The Lagos government asked the army to deploy due to
"violence which led to several police stations being burnt,
policemen killed, suspects in police custody released and
weapons carted away," the military said in a statement published
late on Tuesday said.
"The Nigerian army in the discharge of its constitutional
responsibilities did not shoot at any civilian as there are
glaring and convincing evidence to attest to this fact," the
statement said, without providing details of the evidence.
The army, which has said it was not at the site of the
shooting at the Lekki Toll Gate, and the Lagos state governor's
office did not respond to calls and messages seeking comment.
The military statement did not say how they intervened to curb
unrest beyond denying that its men shot civilians.
Amnesty International on Wednesday published an
investigation in which the rights group said it had tracked
Nigerian army vehicles from their Lagos barracks at Bonny Camp
to Lekki Toll Gate using photographs and videos of the soldiers'
movements culled from social media.
"What happened at Lekki Toll Gate has all the traits of the
Nigerian authorities' pattern of a cover-up," said Osai Ojigho,
Amnesty's Nigeria head.
A Lagos-based soldier, who declined to be identified because
they were not authorised to speak to media, told Reuters troops
of the army 81st Division's 65th Battalion, based at Bonny Camp,
had fired on unarmed civilians at the toll gate.
The army also did not respond to requests for comment on
Amnesty's report or the soldier's account.
Police and soldiers killed at least 12 people in two Lagos
neighbourhoods on Oct. 20, according to witnesses and rights
group Amnesty International. Police have also denied
involvement.
Witnesses at Lekki described armed men in army fatigues
arriving at the site of the peaceful protests around 7 p.m.,
where demonstrators knelt to wave flags and sing the national
anthem, before the men raised their guns and shot into the
crowd.