Lagos panel says state, FG complicit
By Baba Oyetoro, Igho Akeregha and Tobi Adebayo
The United States has welcomed the conclusion of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters with the transmission of its final report.
This came just as the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and other matters which was set up in the aftermath of the EndSARS imbroglio noted in its reports that the killing of unarmed protesters at Lekki toll gate on the night of October 20, 2020, could be equated to a ‘massacre’.
The report submitted by the Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel on Monday to the Lagos State Government indicated that the Lekki EndSARS attack by the military on harmless protesters was a massacre.
The titled, ‘Report Of Lekki incident investigation of 20th October 2020’, indicated that at least 48 protesters were either shot dead, injured with bullets wounds, or assaulted by soldiers who stormed the Lekki toll gate on October 20.
The Lagos State Government is yet to make public the contents of the 309-page report, but the report already in the public domain indicated on page 294 that “The atrocious maiming and killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters while sitting on the floor and waving their Nigerian flags while singing the National Anthem can be equated to a ‘massacre’ in context.”
It went further to state on page 295 that “It was alleged and corroborated that the soldiers had their vans parked at the Lekki Toll Gate and removed as many bodies and corpses of the fallen protesters which they took away with their vans.”
The panel, therefore, made a total of 32 recommendations, which included, “Holistic Police Reforms covering welfare, training and proper equipping of Policemen and their working environment;
“Sanctioning of the officers of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police Force respectively who participated in the shooting, injuring, and killing of unarmed protestors at the Lekki Toll Gate on the 20 and 21st of October 2020.
“Development of more robust engagement between the youth and the government. Setting up of a Standing Committee/Tribunal to deal with cases of Violation of Human Rights by security agencies and a trust fund to settle compensation awarded by such committee/tribunal.
“A public apology to EndSARS protesters who were killed, injured and traumatised by the Incident of the 20th of October 2020.”
In its recommendations, the panel emphasised that all those involved in the attack on youths should be made to face disciplinary measures.
The panel report negates the consistent claim by the Federal Government of Nigeria that there was no massacre at the toll gate, a focal gathering point during last year’s nationwide demonstration against extrajudicial killings and police brutality by operatives of the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad of Nigeria Police Force.
US wants security agencies probed
Reacting to the report, the United States has urged the Federal Government to take suitable measures to address abuses by security forces and grievances of victims and their families.
A statement signed by Temitayo Famutimi, Information Specialist in the Public Affairs Section at the US Consulate said the US looks forward to the Lagos State government’s response as part of a process that represents an important mechanism of accountability regarding the #EndSARS protests and the events that took place near the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020.
The statement noted that “Those events led to serious allegations against some members of the security forces, and we look forward to the Lagos State and Federal Government taking suitable measures to address those alleged abuses as well as the grievances of the victims and their families.”
SERAP heads to court, demands arrest of killers of protesters
Meanwhile, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has promised to file a court action against President Buhari’s administration today.
SERAP is taking this action over the latest revelation contained in the report of Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry which confirmed that operatives of the Nigerian Army and Police shot at protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020.
The group explained yesterday that it was seeking a court order mandating the President to apprehend the officials involved in shooting the protesters which led to 48 casualties.
“We are suing the Buhari administration to compel it to immediately arrest the soldiers and police responsible for the shooting of EndSARS protesters at Lekki-Toll Gate and pay reparations to victims.
“We are filing the suit first thing tomorrow morning; (today) so please indicate your interest ASAP,” SERAP tweeted.
The Federal Government has yet to comment on the Lagos panel’s report, but the state government on Monday said it will forward the report to the National Economic Council for implementation.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had after receiving the panel’s report on Monday set up a four-man member committee led by state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), to raise a white paper on the report submitted by the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for victims of SARS related abuses and other matters.
Sanwo-Olu said the Committee would bring forward a White Paper within the next two weeks to be considered by the Lagos State Executive Council, pledging that the reports and recommendations will be made public and submitted to NEC for discussion.
The Army had told the panel that it only shot blank bullets at the protesters.
It would be recalled that the Federal Government had maintained that there was no loss of life at the Lekki Toll Gate during the EndSARS protest even as Nigerian Army denied shooting live bullets at the protesters.
Also, a member of the Lagos House of Assembly, Desmond Elliot, has commended the state government for allowing the report by the panel on the shooting of unarmed protesters at Lekki toll gate on October 20 to be made public.
Elliot, while speaking on TVC’s Wake-Up Nigeria programme, said that the government knew the report might indict them, yet allow it to “see the light of day.”
Reacting to the report, Elliott said “I read it and it was very heart-breaking. Heart-wrenching. I knew there was a calamity, chaos. Except you are not Nigerian or you are not human. You would feel for everybody.
“I have always said something. When MKO died and the government of the day denied and denied, it took this government to come and say you know what, we have wronged you. This is the truth and they gave democracy day.
“We have always said the truth comes out. There is no how you would try to hide it, the truth would come out.
“But I now looked at it from another angle. Is it possible that this government didn’t know what was going to come out? Of course, they did but the government of today, I am talking of the state government, and I want to believe knew what was going to come out.”
HURIWA demands sack of Lai Mohammed
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria has called for the dismissal, arrest, and trial of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, for alleged falsehood as to what transpired at the Lekki tollgate, Lagos State on October 20th, 2020.
The organisation claimed the minister lied to Nigerians, adding that his claims have now been contradicted by a judicial panel in Lagos.
This was contained in a statement issued against the backdrop of the issuance of a conclusive judicial report by the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Investigations into the Lekki incident last year.
Nation-Building: Problems afflicting Nigeria can be overcome if… – Fayemi
Though Mohammed had claimed there was no killing, the panel said there was a massacre in ‘context’.
The statement read, “As there has emerged undisputed evidence that indeed there was the systematic annihilation of many civilian protesters in Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos State last October, we are asking the President Muhammadu Buhari as a father of all to order the arrest and prosecution of his Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed for committing a grave and heartless offence that is equivalent to the denial of the Holocaust of the six million Jews by Adolf Hitler which is punishable by nearly half a century of incarceration.
“HURIWA is also commending the brave members and Chairperson of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on the #ENDSARS protests especially the circumstances surrounding the massive cases of extrajudicial killings by the Army and armed police when these armed forces opened fire with lethal weapons targeted at the unarmed protesters.
“The rights group asked the President not to sweep the lawlessness of the security agencies under the carpet just as it said if the President allows his information minister to get away with the impunity of denying the massacre that happened before the eyes of the world captured live on video cameras, then he will be remembered long after he has retired from public office as a dictator who oversaw the genocide of young protesters and the generations unborn will never forgive him for this.”
Mohammed had stridently claimed that there was no evidence to show that any protester was killed at the Lekki tollgate on October 20, 2020, during a press conference held in Abuja who young people took to the streets nationwide to mark the first anniversary of the EndSARS protests.
The Minister of Information also faulted the claim by Amnesty International that no fewer than 12 protesters were killed in Lagos State by security operatives during the EndSARS protest.
He described the claim as a ‘phantom’.
He further asked the Cable News Network, DJ Switch among others to “apologise for misleading the world that there was a massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate and for portraying the Nigerian military, police and other security agencies in a bad light.”
