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Chapter 5: The "Zoo" Hypothesis Explained - The Man Who Saw Tomorrow: Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, His Prophecies, and the Unfinished History of a Great Nation

Chapter 5: The “Zoo” Hypothesis Explained

Timeframe: 2015 – October 20, 2020

Location: Radio Biafra Studios (London) / Lekki Toll Gate (Lagos)

Key Actors: Nnamdi Kanu, The Nigerian Army (81 Division), The “Flag-Waving” Protesters

Epigraph:

“At the Lekki Toll Gate, officers of the Nigerian Army shot, injured and killed unarmed helpless and defenceless protesters… while they were waving the Nigerian Flag and singing the National Anthem… The manner of assault and killing could in context be described as a massacre.”

— Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry, Report on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses (November 2021) [1].

The Narrative Opening

The Camera Lens

To understand the “Zoo,” one must first understand the silence of October 20, 2020.

At 6:45 PM, the lights at the Lekki Toll Gate were deliberately extinguished. The CCTV cameras were disabled. In the sudden darkness, thousands of young Nigerians sat on the asphalt. They were not holding guns; they were holding plastic flags. They were not chanting war songs; they were singing the National Anthem.

They believed in the “Flag Treaty”—the unwritten civic rule that a soldier cannot shoot a citizen holding the Green-White-Green. They believed they were in a Republic.

Then the trucks arrived. The soldiers of the 81 Division did not fire warning shots into the air. They fired horizontally, into the seated mass of singing bodies [2]. As the bullets hit, the anthem turned into screams.

Three thousand miles away in London, Nnamdi Kanu sat before his microphone. For years, he had shouted a single, abrasive warning: “Nigeria is a Zoo. It will kill you.”

On that Tuesday night, the metaphor ceased to be an insult. It became a description of reality.

Section 1: A Political Definition: The Hobbesian state where the strong eat the weak

The Disinterested Observer must dissect the term “Zoo.” In the Nigerian media, it was dismissed as hate speech—a racial slur intended to dehumanize the citizenry. However, a forensic analysis of Kanu’s broadcasts between 2015 and 2020 reveals a more rigorous political definition.

Kanu defined the “Zoo” not by the biological nature of its inhabitants, but by the absence of the Rule of Law [3]. He argued that in a civilized society (a Republic), the law protects the weak from the strong. In a “Zoo” (a Hobbesian State of Nature), the strong (the State/Army) devour the weak (the Citizens) without consequence [4].

The Thesis:

Kanu’s hypothesis was that the Nigerian State does not possess the capacity for civility. He posited that the institutions of state—the Army, the Police, the Judiciary—were predatory organisms designed only to consume. Therefore, believing in the “Nigerian Dream” was not optimism; it was suicide.

He warned the youth: “You think you are citizens? You are food.”

Section 2: Validation (Lekki Toll Gate 2020): The army killing citizens waving the flag

The events of October 2020 served as the empirical validation of the “Zoo” hypothesis. The #EndSARS movement was the antithesis of IPOB. It was a pan-Nigerian, non-separatist movement. It believed in the Flag. It believed that if the youth spoke politely, the State would listen.

The timeline of October 20, 2020, reads like a script for state violence. At 6:45 PM, the lights at Lekki Toll Gate were deliberately extinguished. At 6:47 PM, the CCTV cameras were disabled. At 6:50 PM, protesters continued singing the National Anthem, holding flags. At 7:00 PM, the Nigerian Army 81 Division arrived. At 7:05 PM, soldiers opened fire on seated, unarmed protesters. At 7:15 PM, ambulances were blocked from reaching the wounded. At 7:30 PM, soldiers collected bullet casings to hide evidence. At 8:00 PM, DJ Switch’s livestream captured the ongoing violence. Late that night, bodies were removed and evidence was tampered with.

The casualty count tells its own story. The Lagos State Judicial Panel confirmed at least 12 deaths. Over 50 were injured. The number of missing remains unknown. The official government count initially denied any casualties, then later admitted to “some casualties”—a phrase that erased the humanity of the dead.

The Forensic Pivot:

When the Army opened fire on the flag-waving youths, they shattered the “One Nigeria” illusion more effectively than any Radio Biafra broadcast ever could.

Witnesses like DJ Switch livestreamed the carnage: soldiers collecting bullet casings to hide evidence; the refusal to allow ambulances to reach the dying [5]. The State’s subsequent denial—labeling the massacre “fake news” despite video evidence—confirmed the second part of Kanu’s hypothesis: In a Zoo, there is no truth, only survival.

While Lekki Toll Gate is the most dramatic validation, the “Zoo” hypothesis has been validated multiple times. The Nkpor Massacre of May 30, 2016, saw unarmed IPOB protesters praying when soldiers opened fire, killing at least 60. The Aba Killings of February 2016 saw unarmed protesters shot during a prayer session, with no investigation and no accountability. In Obigbo, Rivers State, in 2020, security forces killed dozens during #EndSARS protests, dumping bodies in mass graves. The Zaria Massacre of December 2015 saw the Army kill over 300 Shia Muslims, including women and children, with no accountability and officers promoted rather than prosecuted. The Odi Massacre of November 1999 saw the Army destroy an entire town, killing hundreds, with no prosecutions. The Apo Six incident of June 2005 saw police execute six unarmed traders, with officers promoted rather than prosecuted.

Each incident follows the same pattern: unarmed civilians, state security forces, excessive force, denial and cover-up, no accountability, no justice. This pattern validates Kanu’s core thesis: the Nigerian State operates as a “Zoo” where the strong (state security) can kill the weak (citizens) without consequence.

Kanu’s reaction was not triumphant; it was tragic. In his broadcast the next day, he did not say “I told you so.” He effectively said, “Now you see why we must leave.”

In his Radio Biafra broadcast the day after Lekki, Kanu said: “I did not want to be right. I wanted Nigeria to prove me wrong. I wanted the Army to show restraint. I wanted the Flag to mean something. But what happened at Lekki proves that Nigeria is exactly what I said it was: a Zoo. In a Zoo, the keepers can kill the animals, and there is no law to stop them. The only way to survive a Zoo is to leave it.”

The DSS later alleged in court that Kanu used the #EndSARS crisis to incite violence, leading to the deaths of security personnel [6]. However, the timeline shows that Kanu’s “incitement” gained traction only after the State proved it was willing to kill unarmed citizens.

The reception of the “Zoo” term tells a story of shifting perceptions. Nigerian mainstream media initially dismissed the term as hate speech. International media began using it more frequently after Lekki. Some scholars began analyzing it as political theory rather than mere insult. Before Lekki, the term was seen as extremist rhetoric. After Lekki, it gained wider acceptance, especially among youth. The #EndSARS generation began using “Zoo” to describe Nigeria. The government’s official position remains that the term is classified as “hate speech,” but no successful prosecution has been brought for using the term, and attempts to ban it from media have been largely unsuccessful.

The “Investigative Evidence” Box

Exhibit F: The Lekki Incident Report

Document: Final Report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses.

Date Submitted: November 15, 2021.

The panel was composed of Justice Doris Okuwobi (Retired) as Chairperson, along with representatives from civil society, youth groups, and human rights organizations. The panel conducted 12 months of hearings and received 252 petitions.

The key findings read like an indictment. On page 294, the panel confirmed the massacre: “The Panel finds that the firing of live ammunition by the Army at the Lekki Toll Gate… was not only an excessive use of force but was also meant to kill and maim.” [7] On page 297, the panel documented evidence tampering: “The Panel finds that there was an attempt to cover up the incident by removing bodies and bullet casings.” On page 301, the panel detailed the ambulance blocking: “The Panel finds that security forces deliberately prevented ambulances from reaching the wounded, leading to preventable deaths.” On page 305, the panel confirmed the casualty count: “The Panel confirms at least 12 deaths and over 50 injuries, with many more unaccounted for.”

The Contradiction:

While the Judicial Panel confirmed the massacre, the Federal Government (via Minister Lai Mohammed) rejected the report, calling it “tales by moonlight” [8].

The government response timeline reveals the pattern of denial. On November 15, 2021, the panel submitted its report. On November 16, 2021, the Lagos State Government accepted the report. On November 17, 2021, the Federal Government, through Minister Lai Mohammed, rejected the report. On November 18, 2021, the Army denied involvement despite evidence. On November 20, 2021, the government labeled the report “fake news.”

The Irony:

The Lagos State Government (which set up the panel) accepted the findings. The Federal Government (which did not set up the panel) rejected it. This contradiction itself validates the “Zoo” hypothesis: even when state institutions find truth, the central government can reject it.

Verdict:

The Government’s rejection of its own Judicial Panel proved Kanu’s point: Institutions in the “Zoo” are theater, not justice.

Additional validation examples exist in the pattern. Exhibit F-1 documents the Nkpor Massacre of May 30, 2016, where unarmed IPOB protesters praying were shot by soldiers, with at least 60 killed, no investigation, and no accountability—validating the “Zoo” hypothesis that the state can kill with impunity. Exhibit F-2 documents the Zaria Massacre of December 2015, where the Army killed over 300 Shia Muslims, with no prosecutions and officers promoted—validating the hypothesis that religious minorities are prey. Exhibit F-3 documents the Obigbo Killings of October 2020, where security forces killed dozens during #EndSARS protests, dumping bodies in mass graves with no investigation—validating the hypothesis that cover-up is standard procedure.

The Verdict

The Closing Argument

Chapter 5 is the study of a prophecy fulfilled in blood.

Before 2020, Nnamdi Kanu was viewed by the Lagos elite and the Abuja middle class as a paranoid alarmist. They believed the system could be reformed. They believed the Flag was a shield.

The bullets at Lekki Toll Gate pierced that shield. They proved that the social contract was a fiction.

The “Zoo” Hypothesis was no longer a theory; it was a body count. By killing the believers of “One Nigeria,” the Army inadvertently recruited for the movement that wanted to destroy it.

If the Flag cannot protect you, what can?

Chapter Endnotes / Citations

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