- The quote is from October 24, 2020 — days after the Lekki tollgate shooting — when Bola Tinubu visited Governor Sanwo-Olu at Lagos House, Marina.
- Tinubu, then APC National Leader, said: “Those that suffered casualties during the gunshot need to answer some questions too. How are they there? What kind of characters are they?”
- He also said he asked Sanwo-Olu if he ordered the attack, and declared “I’m still the Jagaban” amid rumors he had fled Nigeria.
This is not a new quote — it is a throwback that Nigerians bring up every October.
On Saturday, October 24, 2020, just four days after soldiers opened fire on #EndSARS protesters at Lekki tollgate on the night of October 20, Bola Tinubu visited Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in Lagos. Journalists were waiting for him.
What he said that day became one of the most controversial lines of the #EndSARS period.
“Those who suffered gunshot (at Lekki tollgate), need to answer some questions too. Why were they there? What kind of characters are they? Sanwo-Olu did the right thing. I’m still the Jagaban.”
— Bola Tinubu reacting to #EndSARS mas/sacre October 24, 2020. pic.twitter.com/oCZX36OGBZ
— Trending Explained (@TrendingEx) October 20, 2026
Speaking to reporters, Tinubu said: “Those who suffered casualty during the gunshots (Lekki shooting) need to answer some questions too.”
He went further: “How are they there? What kind of characters are they there?” According to Premium Times, Channels TV, Daily Post and Vanguard who covered the visit live, he said even though government wants to help, “we must extract some information that will help the government.”
In the same interview, he defended Sanwo-Olu, saying “ Sanwo-Olu did the right thing” and that he had asked the governor pointedly if he ordered the attack. “If he didn’t order the attack, who ordered the attack? That’s all I needed from him,” he said.
And when rumors spread that he had left Nigeria after his Bourdillon home was attacked, he said: “I didn’t go anywhere. I’m still the Jagaban.”
Why is this trending again? Because every year as #EndSARS anniversary approaches, Nigerians revisit what leaders said and did after Lekki. For many young Nigerians, that line — that victims who were shot needed to answer questions — felt like blame-shifting instead of empathy. For others, it was seen as a call for proper investigation.
Six years later, Atiku Abubakar himself recently recalled that quote in October 2026, saying Nigeria is still waiting for an answer to “Who gave the order?”
It remains one of the most defining — and divisive — moments of Tinubu’s pre-presidency.
