In a world with no balance, where fine margins decide whether people live or die; coincidences are unacceptable.

On October 20, 2020, uniformed men opened fire on peaceful protesters - reportedly killing 12 and maiming scores of others - at the Lekki Toll Gate Bridge, in Lagos Nigeria, as confirmed by reports obtained by BBC Nigeria correspondent Mayeni Jones and the Reuters news agency. 

According to the State government, (despite clear evidence to the contrary by eyewitnesses) there were no fatalities recorded at the scene.

"We are comforted that we have not recorded any fatality, as against the widespread circulation on social media," Lagos state Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu stated. 

The President of the nation, President Buhari, turned a blind eye (as always) to the incident, refusing to directly say anything as he only called on people to have patience as police reforms "gather pace".

The Nigerian Army itself has not issued an official statement concerning the turn of events while taking the time to debunk any news that ties the killings to itself.

Surely, Nigerians are already used to these reactions from the listed entities.

READ ALSO:

End SARS: BRT Buses Set On Fire In Lagos By Hoodlums [VIDEO]

What is most interesting, however, is the role that network providers, MTN, played in the series of events that transpired at the toll gate.

There had been rumours that the government had enlisted MTN to weaken the resolve of the protesters that had been protesting for two weeks straight by deliberately sabotaging their network since the major form of communication in the protest was through the internet, most especially, Twitter.

These rumours were unfounded, in the sense that there was no clear evidence that tied to that end.

Prior to the shooting, the protesters who had been gathering at the Toll Gate had been complaining of poor network from MTN in what could have just been a coincidence.

After the shooting, today, the network giants released a statement to apologise for the network "glitch".

"Yello,"

"We are truly sorry for any difficulty you may have connecting to the network in parts KD Lekki, Oniru and Victoria Island at this time."

"This is due to the loss of auxiliary power supplies at the hub site in the area."

"Our engineers are working to resolve these challenges as quickly as possible, although they are constrained by the prevailing circumstances which limit access," They wrote on their Twitter page.

This message in itself seems reasonable, however, the giants took down the tweet after it was bashed by Nigerians who feel that an apology is unacceptable after what had happened.

MTN should not have apologised.

That singular apology is an indication of guilt. Deleting the apology after a massive backlash is an admission of guilt.

The Nigerian government might never be held accountable for its actions, but Nigerians will never forget the role that MTN played in the killings of the Lagos Bridge.