![[Video]#EndSARS memorial: All we want is justice – Macaroni](https://thenewsguru.ng/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/cats.jpg)
Adebowale Adedayo, popularly known as Mr Macaroni who is a Skit maker and activist has stated that all they want is justice.
He stated this at the #EndSARS memorial procession at Lekki Tollgate.
Macaroni added that this date (October 20, 2020) will never be forgotten in Nigerian history noting that no one can erase it.
See Video below:
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Supporters of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) Peter Obi are currently holding a rally at the Lekki toll gate despite police directive against it.
Thousands of Obi’s supporters were seen Marching at the Lekki-Epe Expressway, chanting ‘Obi! Obidient!’.
A supporter of the Labour Party presidential Candidate known as simply Cynthia shared images from the event, saying that police could not stop them.
“The police presence at Lekki did not stop youths from gathering. Very proud of this generation. If Lekki is your route join them!”
Another supporter @eklepatience also tweeted, “All we want is a genuine leader that’s ready to serve Nigerians we’re not asking for too much nah, just give us Peter Obi. Festac Lagos is Obidient.”
Recall that the Lagos State Police Command on Friday issued a directive against organising any form of rallies at the Lekki Toll gate, referencing the subsisting court order that prohibited it.
The rally is expected to hold simultaneously in other parts of Lagos, like Festac town, Surulere and the National Stadium.
By Chidi Amuta
Youth going out to sing the national anthem and wave the flag in open protest should not be rewarded with death. Nor should an open protest against police bestiality by unarmed citizens qualify as such a grave threat to national security to warrant the invocation of the full war powers of the state. Worse still, for the Nigerian state to feel so frightened at the sight of its own innocent unarmed citizens as to deploy combat army troops and wild police detachments with live ammunition and an order to shoot to death indicates an unusual type of state power nervousness. All these and more are what happened during the ENDSARS protests at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on 20th October, 2020. The Nigerian state, instead of behaving like a democratic authority, displayed the traits of a banana garrison republic.
What began as an innocent peaceful protest against a rogue police unit ended up as a drama of blood and tears. The protesters were mostly young. They were unarmed. They were of innocent soul and pure heart. Some of them were artists, entertainers and diverse social media influencers. Their many voices rose in unison against the evils of a deviant state. They gave voice to an optimism that shattered the pessimism of a world ruled by their fathers and grand fathers. At the height of the protest, their united voice rose with an inspired version of the national anthem to lift the gloom of the dark night of our days. In the cold of the night, they covered themselves with shrouds of the national flag and lay on the floor of the Nigerian earth, their own earth. The common good of all Nigerians deserved a night of vigil by ambassadors of the future. This piece of the Nigerian earth was now theirs for a short memorable while. They raised their voices only hoping to be heard. They carried neither guns nor knives. They declared their innocence with open arms and even extended their hands of patriotic fellowship to law enforcement, sharing their snacks with them. They did not hurt anyone neither did they intend to revenge the cumulative violence of SARS with any form of violence.
They were exuding the idealism that is the entitlement of all youth. They shared the optimism that the ill of Nigeria can be chased away by the united voice of optimistic youth. It was a tacit rejection of the old society created and presided over by the population of geriatric leaders. For a brief while, we old ones at home raised a voice in praise of our youth. They had found the courage to raise the questions that most of us had spent a life time merely contemplating and too timid to name. The social media had made their world smaller, imbuing in them the confidence of global solidarity. Citizens of a world without borders, they believed that what is possible in Washington, London, Cairo, Tunis and Paris can happen in Lagos, Benin, Kano and Abuja. They were armed with the eternal hope that if youth of all nations cry out loud enough against our police brutality perhaps things could change for the better.
At the approach of dusk, all hell was let loose. Truck loads of armed soldiers and police personnel arrived to shred the peace and vigil tranquility of Lekki Toll Gate. The protesters mistook them for protectors of the innocent. But multiple shots rent the air. The tranquil solemnity of a night of songs and speeches was converted into a cacophony of cries of anguish and death. A place of innocent communal protest had become a blood spattered canvas.
Before dawn, officialdom tried to clean up the scene, tom water hose the blood and bullet casings in preparation for a cascade of denials and lies. But word had gone round the country. Our children who went out to peacefully protest an unjust police unit had been bitten by the dogs of war. Incendiary anger swept through the length and breadth of the nation. Irate mobs took to the streets. The hungry, the angry, the unemployed and assorted crowds from hell unleashed an orgy of looting, arson and brigandage. Government and its movable and fixed presence became targets. Soldiers and policemen became unsafe and tossed away their uniforms just to take cover in the anonymity of civilian ordinariness.
Thereafter, an elaborate and sloppy show of shameful denials followed. Untidy cover-ups, serial denials, staged lies even by armed forces personnel on oath and in uniform followed when investigative panels was convened. There was of course the usual federal government knee jerk denials. “No one was killed at Lekki Toll Gate! No live ammunitions were used”! The ubiquitous Lai Mohammed, George Orwell’s Animal Farm Squeler, even picked an open quarrel with CNN over its evidence based report of casualties and repressive stampede at Lekki Toll Gate. All these were taking place in a world ruled by instant satellite and digital imaging techniques of instant reporting.
In all fairness, Governor Sanwo Olu of Lagos did the logical thing for any responsible government. A young governor whose popularity rating was quite high was in trouble. He needed to look good in the eyes of his youthful admirers while discharging the obligations of a responsible state to guarantee peace and order. He may have panicked by inviting the army but had no control over the rules of engagement.
He set up a judicial investigation panel headed by Justice Okuwobi with a membership that looked credible, including representatives of the youths who powered the ENDSARS protests. He was intent on finding out the truth. All participants, victims and relevant agencies testified in the open. At some point, the public almost lost track of the proceedings as torrents of testimonies and crowds of witnesses came forward with unnerving revelations.
At last the investigations have been concluded and the report of findings has gone public. The quantum of killings at Lekki qualifies as a ‘massacre’. A total of 48 persons were either shot dead or maimed by soldiers and policemen. Nine were confirmed killed and four persons remain missing and presumed dead. In the words of the report: ‘The atrocious maiming or killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters, while sitting on the floor and waving their Nigerian flags, while singing the National Anthem can only be equated to a ‘massacre’ in context”.
Other significant findings include the fact that soldiers and policemen used live ammunition on innocent protesters. The army used its vans to remove corpses from the scene of the protest and refused ambulances to help take victims to receive help. The police, on its part, assaulted, shot at and battered unarmed protesters which led to injuries and deaths.
While the protests raged, the federal government initiated actions towards some reform of the police. It hurriedly disbanded the controversial criminal SARS unit and replaced it with a new anti crime unit called Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit. Since after the ENDSARS protests, however, not much has been heard or seen of the new unit. Arguably, there has been a statistical reduction in SARS- type police harassment and brutality. Yet there have been reported instances of police brutality, robbery and extra judicial killings especially in the troubled South Eastern states where special security operations against IPOB militants has invoked old police habits.
On the scale of government investigation panels, the Lagos ENDSARS panel is one of the few times in Nigeria where a panel set up by government has come up to indict government and the security agencies. The series of indictments begins with the Lagos State Government itself which invited the army in the first place. There is no evidence from the proceedings that the invitation to the army was preceded by any indication that the protests were of such a violent as nature to overwhelm the Lagos state police command. There is also no record that the local police detachment at Maroko or its environs had requested for reinforcement at Lekki Toll Gate. Similarly, there was no mention by any of the witnesses that the protests were in any way violent or a threat to public peace. The understandable obstruction of traffic at the Toll Gate was only temporary. And yet armed soldiers were called in with conflicting rules of engagement. An order to arrive the scene and start shooting live bullets indiscriminately at unarmed protesters cannot pass as a ‘rule of engagement’ by any definition.
The panel clearly indicted the military, the police and the Lekki Concession Company which owns the toll gate. In the case of the latter, they were found guilty of evidence tampering by interfering with the close circuit television camera recordings of the proceedings and events on the said dates.
The implications of the Lagos ENDSARS judicial panel go far beyond the immediate context of the 2020 ENDSARS protests. They once again raise questions as to the character of the Nigerian states especially in its use of force to manage the freedoms and rights of citizens under the law. The most critical question is that of the right of citizens in a democracy to protest and express themselves in matters of public concern. The corollary is of course the obligation of the state to maintain law and order in situations where the free expression of the right to protest and expression leads to an upset of law and order. On this most important ancient question of democracy, the Nigerian state failed flatly even on the scale of banana republics in its handling of the Lekki Toll Gate incident.
While government has the ultimate responsibility to restore law and order in situations where there is credible evidence of a breach or collapse, it must do so in a manner that respects the right of citizens to openly process and protest public policies that they consider inimical to their lawful interests as a public. Of course the immediate recourse of government in such situations is to the police as a civil law enforcement agency. Police response in all such situations must be calibrated in response to the degree of the threat to public order. Where the conduct of the public at a public procession or protest is peaceful and sedate, the role of the police becomes protective, to prevent a peaceful protest from deteriorating into anarchy or mayhem. Ordinarily, this should have been the case in the Lekki Toll Gate incident. The usual police argument that a peaceful protest could be hijacked by riotous hoodlums and criminals is only a ready made alibi to be deployed in case the police over reaches its peaceful mandate.
The involvement of the military is a totally different dimension. The general rule in a democracy is that the military can only be invited by the civilian authority into a civil law enforcement role only in a situation where the threat to public order has escalated into a national security threat. In such a situation, the available police strength and capacity is overwhelmed to a level that necessitates a higher level of coercion to restore order. In such an eventuality, the protocols of authorization must obey the chain of command between civilian authority and the echelons of the various service chiefs. Similarly, the rules of engagement must be clearly spelt out. In most democracies, where soldiers are drafted to civil law and order assignments, they are subordinated to the command and control of the police hierarchy. It is squarely the call of civilian authority.
Ultimately, the central concern that has arisen from the report of the Lekki Toll Gate investigation panel is an interrogation of the doctrinal basis of the use of force by the various levels of government in Nigeria. Repeated events have shown that the culture of Nigeria’s security forces in their relationship with the civilian populace has remained instinctually adversarial. This is a carry over from the colonial heritage in which the public has now replaced the ‘natives’ as objects of police and military rough treatment. It is noteworthy that the Nigeria police retains the epithet of ‘force’ in its very name. This colonial tradition has been reinforced by decades of military authoritarianism in which a presumptive superior military order was out to instill discipline on an ‘idle’ civilian populace. The spontaneous reflex of the Nigeria military, like the police, is brutal hostility towards the civilian public that pays its bills. Repeatedly therefore, the Nigerian state has retained a certain unsavoury character as a ‘garrison’ state in dealing with citizens.
Nigeria would ordinarily want to parade the credentials of a democratic state. What the international interest in the Lekki Toll Gate episode has done is to call out Nigeria to fully account for its democratic credentials. We cannot hoist the banner of a democracy and expect the world to erect a different set of standards and value system for measuring our behavior especially in the way we treat our citizens. Nor should we expect the world to look the other way while we deploy soldiers and policemen to mete out medieval sadisms on our citizens.
Unfortunately, the federal government stepped forward to take the bullets for the Lekki Toll Gate and the international responses to it. Mr. Lai Mohammed and the Abuja cohort saw this as another opportunity for grandstanding in a ‘we’ versus ‘them’ Cold War type propaganda contest. Managing the information around ENDSARS became a federal government business. Unfortunately, our federals lack the technological know how to contest facts adduced by media and governments with superior digital and social media capabilities. In this regard, Lekki Toll Gate happens to be within earshot of the Lagos diplomatic precinct. Nearly every major nation has its consul or effective diplomatic outpost around Victoria Island. Those of them interested in security threats in Nigeria had their operatives on the ground at Lekki Toll Gate with all the technological capacities to capture the happenings in real time.
Now the verdict is out. The indictments have been handed down. Remedies have been recommended. This is no moment for arrogant posturing. It is time for sober and penitent compassion. The federal and state governments should apologize openly to the public: for the lives cut short, for destinies altered permanently through maiming, for careers disrupted and for the public trauma of televised authorized mass murder by agents of the state. For these and more, our governments must find the humility and grace to show respect for Nigerians for once. It is an opportunity to revise the reputation of the Nigerian state from a garrison state to a truly democratic republic in which the rights of a peaceful people matter. Most importantly, those we put in uniform and armed to protect us must NEVER AGAIN turn their weapons against us.
The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry (JPI) set up by the State government to look into cases of abuses that happened during the #EndSARS protest at Lekki Tollgate has released names and details of the casualties of the shooting that happened at the tollgate.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the names and full details of the casualties were contained in a report released by the the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for victims of SARS related abuses and other matters.
Recall that the panel chaired by Justice Doris Okuwobi submitted two reports of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for victims of SARS related abuses and other matters to Mr Sanwo-Olu on Monday at the Lagos House, Ikeja.
The two reports submitted by the Panel to Lagos State Government are on investigation on petitions on several abuses and killings by the Nigerian Police, especially the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the October 20, 2020 Lekki Toll Gate shootings during the EndSARS protests hijacked by hoodlums.
The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry (JPI) set up by the State government to look into cases of abuses that happened during the #EndSARS protest at Lekki Tollgate has indicted the State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports a copy of the JPI report perused by this medium indicated that the Lagos State Government invited the Nigerian Army to the State through the Governor before the hierarchy of the Nigerian Army deployed its soldiers to the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the 20th of October.
Recall that the panel chaired by Justice Doris Okuwobi submitted two reports of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for victims of SARS related abuses and other matters to Mr Sanwo-Olu on Monday at the Lagos House, Ikeja.
The two reports submitted by the Panel to Lagos State Government are on investigation on petitions on several abuses and killings by the Nigerian Police, especially the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the October 20, 2020 Lekki Toll Gate shootings during the EndSARS protests hijacked by hoodlums.
According to the executive summary of the the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for victims of SARS related abuses and other matters report, there was an attempt to cover up the Incident of the 20th of October by the cleaning of the Lekki Toll Gate and the failure to preserve the scene ahead of potential investigations.
The report also indicated that at the Lekki Toll Gate, officers of the Nigerian Army shot, injured and killed unarmed helpless and defenseless protesters, without provocation or justification, while they were waving the Nigerian Flag and singing the National Anthem and the manner of assault and killing could in context be described as a massacre.
The Panel also found that the conduct of the Nigerian Army was exacerbated by its refusal to allow ambulances render medical assistance to victims who required such assistance. The Army was also found not to have adhered to its own Rules of Engagement.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The #EndSARS #ReformPoliceNG Advocacy upon which the protesters premised their #EndSARS demonstration of discontent/Protest on, has been the most prominent advocacy in Nigeria and a major rallying point, convergence and common ground for the national Police brutality imbroglio since 2016.
This is one of the reasons why the advocacy was surgically curated and the youth protest that followed built on that protocol in an orderly, organized and transparent fashion, reinforcing the specific objective of shutting down the culture of impunity (#EndSARS) -through the disbandment of the poster child of impunity within the police structure (i.e. SARS and all Tactical Squads of the Police formation) and the End Goal of the holistic reformation of the Nigeria Police Force–#ReformPoliceNG
However, the dearth of proper public orientation and sensitization by the Federal Government about the progress made over the years on the trajectory of reformation of the Nigeria Police Force, given the years of advocacy and dialogues cum the persistence of outrageous and gross violation of human rights (torture, extra judicial killings, extortion, robbery, unlawful arrest and detention among others) with impunity, being perpetrated by the Nigeria Police, forced the youth to express their constitutionally protected Rights and Freedom of Expression and Assembly to demonstrate their discontent from the 8th – 20⁰ October, 2020.
From the 8th of October 2020, the protest under hashtag #ENDSARS started in Lagos and grew into large movement at various locations in Lagos and across the country principally targeted towards drawing attention to the ubiquitous incidents of Police brutality (Culture of Impunity) and poor working conditions of Police officers.
One of the demands from the protesters was the setting up of Judicial Panels of Inquiry to investigate cases of Police brutality. Lagos State Government obliged this request on the 15th of October, 2020 and set up the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry Into Victims of Police Brutality and other Related Matters, which was inaugurated on the 19th of October 2020.
Its main Terms of Reference was to look into cases of Police brutality and other related matters and award compensation to successful petitions. The members were Honourable Justice Doris Okuwobi, Chairperson, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa SAN, representing Civil Society, Retired Deputy Inspector General of Police, Frederick Taiwo Lakanu, Ms. Patience Patrick Udoh representing Civil Society, Mr. Segun Awosanya, Human Rights Activist, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Odusanya, Director of Citizens’ Rights, Ministry of Justice, Mr Lucas Koyejo Esq. representative of the National Human Rights Commission, and Mr. Majekodunmi Temitope Oluwaseun, Youth Representative.
The Panel shall ensure speedy inquiry/restitution on SARS activities and Extra-Judicial killings of innocent citizens by the dissolved SARS with a view to delivering justice for the Victims as well as compensate their families/dependents.
IN particular it shall –
1. Receive memoranda from concemed members of the public and inquire into cases of abuse, brutality, torture, extra-judicial killings by the disbanded SARS in Lagos State;
2. Identify the victims of brutality, torture and extra-judicial killings by the disbanded SARS;
3. Identify Officers of SARS involved in the abuse of rights of citizens and make appropriate recommendations for prosecution of such Officers;
4. Evaluate the cases of the victims; determine those deserving compensation as a result of such violations by Officers of the disbanded SARS and recommend compensations payable to them from the Victims Trust Fund established by the Governor,
5. To investigate the incident at the Lekki Toll- Gate on 20th October, 2020 and make necessary findings and recommendations. 6. Examine any other matters incidental to any of the terms of reference stated above; and
7. Make necessary recommendation(s) to guide against future abuse of human rights by the Nigeria Police in Lagos State.
AND the Governor further directed that the Chairman and members of the Panel constituted under this instrument shall remain in Office for a period of six (6) months commencing from the date of appointment and this period may be extended at the discretion of the Governor in writing.
Following the Panel’s inauguration, on the 20th of October 2020 there were allegations that the officers of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police Force had gone to the Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos State, the epicenter of the #ENDSARS protests and shot at peaceful protesters.
Following this, the Lagos State Government expanded the Terms of Reference of the Panel to include an investigation into what became known as the Lekki Toll Gate (LTG) Incident. The composition of members facilitated a comprehensive and cohesive approach to the investigative work of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry.
The Panel began its investigation into the Lekki Toll Gate Incident of 20th October, 2020, by issuing Summons to parties it considered pertinent to its finding and investigations as follows: The Lekki Concession Company (LCC), operators of the Lekki Toll Gate, Nigerian Army (NA); The Hierarchy of Lagos State Police Command and later also to the Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Maroko Police Division, the Lagos State Government, various hospitals, who were said to have attended to victims of the Lekki Toll Gate Incident, Operators of Advertising Billboards at the Lekki Toll Gate, and News outlets who carried investigative journalism on the incident.
The response to the Summons was hugely positive, as over 80% of those summoned honored the invitations, and gave evidence before the Panel, which assisted it greatly in unravelling the events of the 20th October 2020. The protesters on their own attended the Panel’s proceedings and presented evidence of what happened at the Lekki Toll Gate on the 20th of October, 2020.
On the part of the ENDSARS Protesters the Panel specifically considered the evidence of persons, who alleged that they were victims with injuries or death of their loved ones, which occurred during the Lekki Toll Gate Incident and the testimonies of those who were present and traumatized. Some gave accounts of what happened even though they had no physical injuries.
The evidence considered in this regard usually represented similar versions of the Lekki Toll Gate Incident as corroborated by other protesters, who were treated as Petitioners with Petitions arising from the Toll Gate Incident. Virtually all witnesses were cross examined by counsel to parties with opposing versions of Lekki Toll Gate Incident. Sequel to the above the Panel reached its findings and prepared its reports despite the evidence of the Nigerian Army, that was limited, as most of the officers who were summoned and who filed affidavits never appeared before the Panel).
At the conclusion of evidence of all relevant parties, key issues which called for determination and upon which the findings of the Panel were based are summarized as follows:
Whether the Nigerian Army used live bullets on unarmed and defenseless protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on 20th October 2020? .
Whether the live bullets resulted in injuries or casualties on the part of the protesters?
Whether the Police was at the Toll Gate on the night of the 20th of October 2020 and the morning of the 21st of October 2020 and whether they shot at unarmed and defenseless protesters?
Whether the LCC played any role in the events of the night of the 20th of October 2020?
Whether the Lagos State played any role in the Lekki Toll Gate Incident of the 20th of October 2020.
The Panel thus made the following key findings:
1. That the Nigerian Army was invited for intervention in the State and was deployed to Lekki Toll Gate on the 20th of October 2020. At the Lekki Toll Gate, officers of the Nigerian Army shot, injured and killed unarmed helpless and defenseless protesters, without provocation or justification, while they were waving the Nigerian Flag and singing the National Anthem and the manner of assault and killing could in context be described as a massacre. The Panel also found that the conduct of the Nigerian Army was exacerbated by its refusal to allow ambulances render medical assistance to victims who required such assistance. The Army was also found not to have adhered to its own Rules of Engagement.
2. The Panel found that the Nigerian Police Force deployed its officers to the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the 20th October, 2020 and between that night and the morning of the 21st of October, 2020, its officer shot at, assaulted and battered unarmed protesters, which led to injuries and deaths. The police officers also tried to cover up their actions by picking up bullets.
3. The panel found that LCC hampered the panel’s investigation by refusing to turn over some useful and vital information/evidence as requested by the Panel and the Forensic Expert engaged by the panel, even where such information and evidence was by the company’s admission, available. It manipulated the incomplete CCTV Video footage of the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the 20th of October 2020, which it tendered before the Panel.
4. The Panel found that there was an invitation of the Nigerian Army to Lagos State made by the Lagos State Government through the Governor before the hierarchy of the Nigerian Army deployed its soldiers to the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the 20th of October.
5. The Panel found that there was an attempt to cover up the Incident of the 20th of October by the cleaning of the Lekki Toll Gate and the failure to preserve the scene ahead of potential investigations.
Upon the above key findings amongst others, the Panel made a total of 32 Recommendations, which included but not limited to:
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 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 traumatized by the Incident of the 20th of October 2020;
The memorialization of the Lekki Toll Gate and the 20th of October going forward.
The recognition of Hospitals and Medical Doctors who played heroic roles following the Incident of the Lekki Toll Gate on the 20th of October 2020 thereby saving lives and minimizing the impact of the injuries suffered by the victims, most of which were on a pro-bono basis;
The Panel recommended various sums of compensation to victims of the Lekki Toll Gate Incident, which must be expeditious in order to accelerate the healing process. The Panel recommended that any data that may have been generated over the years on the impunity of the Police across Nigeria be studied and deployed as early warning signs (EWS) mechanism.
The Panel recognizes that it had the cooperation of most stakeholders save for the Nigerian Army and some others who ignored summons issued by the Panel. The Panel accordingly notes the cooperation of stakeholders through their respective Counsel, such Counsel included, members of the Nigerian Bar Association, Counsel to the various groups of ENDSARS Protesters, Counsel to Lagos State Government, and Counsel to the Nigeria Police Force.
The Panel is grateful to the experts, who honored its various summons to attend proceedings and provide the panel with vital information and evidence. The contributions of the aforementioned aided tremendously the investigative work of the Panel.
The greatest limitation of the Panel was time as the Panel had to undertake its investigation into the Lekki Toll Gate Incident alongside other petitions in respect of Police brutality related matters. Following this limitation the panel was unable to determine all Petitions arising from the Lekki Toll Gate Incident and accordingly urges that those petitions be heard and determined by the standing committee/tribunal on Human Rights recommended by it.
The Panel thanks the Lagos State Government for giving it the opportunity to serve, providing the resources and allowing it to conduct its investigations and arrive at its findings independently and with integrity.
The Panel believes that with the implementation of the recommendations, the LEKKI TOLL GATE INCIDENT OF 20TH OCTOBER 2020 will never happen again, lessons will be leamt on all sides and there will be healing in the great state of Lagos State.
The Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola has said he does not know what happened to the video camera he recovered at the Lekki tollgate after the #EndSARS protests of October 2020.
Fashola made this known during an interview on Arise TV, when he was queried about the viral footage of him recovering a camcorder at the scene of the Lekki Tollgate protest in Lagos State.
The former Governor, who had visited the State in October last year to assess the damage caused by hoodlums, spotted a camcorder at the toll plaza which he handed over to a government official.
The viral footage of Fashola’s “recovery” became a meme on social media and trended for several weeks.
When asked what became of the camera, Fashola responded: “You should not be asking me. You have the tapes showing that I handed it over to the government of Lagos so you have all the recordings. I think your people were there. So don’t ask me what happened to the camera. I don’t know.”
On what he thought about the struggle by the youths to take power in 2023, Fashola said youths had ruled Nigeria more than the elderly.
He recalled that during the military regime, the officers who ruled Nigeria through the 1960s and 1980s were in their 30s and 40s.
The minister argued that most of these personalities remained on the scene.
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has maintained one year after the #EndSARS protest that threw the country into a turmoil that the events that happened at the Lekki Tollgate, Lagos State was a phantom massacre.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Alhaji Mohammed stated this in his text of a press conference he addressed on Wednesday in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
As the minister was addressing the press conference, #EndSARS memorial protests, marking one year anniversary of events that happened at the Lekki Tollgate, were ongoing across the country.
At the time of filing this report, several protesters had been arrested by security forces at the Lekki Tollgate, but Mohammed continues to maintain that no blood was spilled in the events that happened at the Lekki Tollgate on 20 October 2020.
The Minister, however, quoted some ballistic experts as saying no military grade live ammunition was fired at the protesters at Lekki Tollgate on 20 October 2020, but that low velocity caliber and/or artisanal/12-gauge firearms were fired.
“Had the military personnel deliberately fired military grade live ammunition directly at the protesters; there would have been significantly more fatalities and catastrophic injuries recorded. This was clearly not the case,” the Minister quoted the ballistic experts to have said.
However, Lai Mohammed continued to deny any killing ever took place at the Lekki Tollgate, describing reports by the CNN and Amnesty International as shameless.
He stated: “The Federal Government remains proud of the security agencies for acting professionally and showing utmost restraint all through the EndSARS protest and the ensuing violence, an action that saved lives and properties”.
Good morning gentlemen and welcome to this press conference.
PHANTOM MASSACRE AT LEKKI TOLL GATE
2. Today marks the first anniversary of the phantom massacre at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, which was the culmination of an otherwise peaceful protest that was later hijacked by hoodlums. At earlier press conferences, I had called the reported massacre at the toll gate the first massacre in the world without blood or bodies. One year later, and despite ample opportunities for the families of those allegedly killed and those alleging a massacre to present evidence, there has been none: No bodies, no families, no convincing evidence, nothing. Where are the families of those who were reportedly killed at the toll gate? Did they show up at the Judicial Panel of Inquiry? If not, why?
3. Sadly, the champions of a massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate, including Amnesty International and CNN, have continued to shamelessly hold on to their unproven stand. Recall, gentlemen, that after bandying different figures, Amnesty International finally settled at about 12 people killed. On its part, CNN went from 38 people killed to two to just one, after a supposed global exclusive even when the network had no reporter on ground at the Lekki Toll Gate on Oct. 20th 2020.
4. On Monday, the Judicial Panel of Inquiry that was set up by the Lagos State Government after the EndSARS protest wrapped up its sitting. During the sitting, CNN was summoned but it never showed up, thus missing a great opportunity to prove its allegation of massacre at the toll gate. Also, Amnesty International had a golden opportunity to convince the world, but it rather opted for issuing meaningless press releases.
5. In its latest attempt to grasp at straws and redeem whatever is left of its battered credibility on this issue, CNN has continued with its baseless report that soldiers shot at protesters. In a report currently running on the network, CNN brazenly and unashamedly held on to its flawed narrative, relying on an unidentified mother whose son was reportedly shot dead at Lekki, but without convincing evidence of who shot him dead. The same CNN that tweeted on Oct. 23rd 2020 that 38 people were shot dead at Lekki is now struggling to convince the world that one boy was killed at Lekki. What a shame!
6. The testimony of ballistic experts before the Judicial Panel of Inquiry in Lagos contradicts the tales by the moonlight by Amnesty International, CNN, a runaway DJ and their ilk. The experts, in their testimony, said inter alia:
”The Team finds that from the medical data examined, including the timeline of arrival at medical facility and the nature of the injuries sustained by the Victims, who were taken to the 5 medical facilities, that no military grade live ammunition (high-velocity) was fired at the protesters (emphasis mine) at Lekki Tollgate on 20th October 2020, within the timeframe of reference (18.30-20.34hrs). That the GSW (Gun Shot Wounds) injuries (4 in number between 19:05 and 19:45 hrs), which were examined by the Team, can be safely identified as being discharged by either low velocity caliber and/or artisanal/12-gauge firearms (artisanal firearms are locally-fabricated weapons). What is however certain is that had the military personnel deliberately fired military grade live ammunition directly at the protesters; there would have been significantly more fatalities and catastrophic injuries recorded. This was clearly not the case.” (emphasis mine)
7. The ballistic experts are not alone in reaching that conclusion. In its 2020 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, the U.S. State Department wrote:
“On Oct. 20th (2020), members of the security forces enforced curfew by FIRING SHOTS INTO THE AIR (emphasis mine) to disperse protesters, who had gathered at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos to protest abusive practices by the Nigeria Police Force Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS)
“Accurate information on fatalities resulting from the shooting was not available at year’s end. Amnesty International reported 10 persons died during the event, but the government disputed Amnesty’s Report, and NO OTHER ORGANIZATION WAS ABLE TO VERIFY THE CLAIM (emphasis mine).”
8. With the preponderance of evidence against any massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate on Oct. 20th 2020, we are once again reiterating what we said one year ago, that:
i) The military did not shoot at protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on Oct. 20th 2020, and there was no massacre at the toll gate. The only ‘massacre’ recorded was in the social media, hence there were neither bodies nor blood.
ii) Amnesty International, CNN, a runaway DJ and others like them should apologize 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 bad light.
iii) CNN acted unprofessionally by relying on unverified, and possibly-doctored social media videos, as well as other open-source information, to conclude that a massacre took place at the toll gate.
iv) The Federal Government remains proud of the security agencies for acting professionally and showing utmost restraint all through the EndSARS protest and the ensuing violence, an action that saved lives and properties.
v) The six soldiers and 37 policemen who died during the EndSARS protests are human beings with families, even though the Human Rights Organizations and CNN simply ignored their deaths, choosing instead to trumpet a phantom massacre.
OTHER ISSUES RELATED TO ENDSARS
9. The National Economic Council (NEC), which comprises all State Governors and representatives of the Federal Government, and chaired by the Vice President, has already addressed other issues relating to the EndSARS protest.
10. At its meeting on 15 October 2021, the NEC received an update on the Reports of Judicial Panels of Inquiry into Allegations of Human Rights Violations against Members of Nigeria Police Force and other Security Agencies. Note that 28 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) – under the auspices of the National Human Rights Commission – had set up Judicial Panels/Commissions of Inquiry to investigate allegations of violations of human rights levied against members of the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies, especially members of the disbanded SARS.
11. Out of the 28 States, 11 States (Abia, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Plateau, and Rivers) have submitted their final reports to Council. Governors of other States have also indicated that their reports would be submitted soon. Following deliberations on the recommendations of the panels, NEC agreed/resolved as follows:
PAYMENT OF COMPENSATION TO VICTIMS
Each State, in collaboration with the Federal Government, shall establish modalities for the settlement of all monetary compensations awarded by the Panels. Already, as resolved by NEC, a number of States have set up Victims Compensation Funds, from which several victims have already received payments of sums awarded to them by the panels.
PROSECUTION OF INDICTED PERSONS (SECURITY PERSONNEL AND CIVILIANS)
Council directed State Governors to immediately forward copies of final reports of the panels to their Attorneys-General for prompt arraignment and prosecution of all indicted persons. Where incidents in the reports relate to matters of discipline, in addition to prosecution, NEC urged the Nigeria Police Force to take disciplinary action on the affected officers in line with the provisions of the Police Act 2020.
IMPROVED EFFICIENCY OF NIGERIA POLICE FORCE AND OTHER SECURITY AGENCIES’ ARCHITECTURE
NEC called on the leadership of the security agencies to ensure that –
a. Persons recruited into arms-bearing security agencies undergo psychiatric evaluations and drug tests before enlistment and periodically after enlistment to ensure that the personnel are psychologically fit to carry live weapons and to identify behavioural tendencies that may require psycho-social interventions.
b. Personnel of the agencies dutifully observe Rules of Engagement in the discharge of their functions/duties around and within the civilian populace.
c. While acknowledging the various initiatives introduced by the Federal Government to:
*strengthen police accountability through the Police Service Commission,
*sustain improved funding and budgetary allocation to the Nigeria Police Force and other securities agencies,
*and the lifting of the ban on recruitment of police officers, Council urged the Federal Government to give priority to the general welfare of police officers and personnel of other security agencies. In particular, it advocated the review of pension and gratuity of retired police officers and attainment of parity of remuneration by police officers with sister security agencies.
d. Undertake a comprehensive assessment of all police stations across the country with a view to ensuring that they are fit for purpose.
e. Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies should deploy cutting-edge technology in the fight against crimes.
f. Nigeria Police Force to, in line with the mandatory training provisions of the Police Act 2020, prioritize training of Police Officers on procedures for the entrenchment of Human Rights Provisions guaranteed by the Constitution and on the professional handling of weapons.
g. All those detained by the Police as a result of the EndSars protests are expeditiously processed with due regard to the principles of fair hearing.
h. The system established within the Nigeria Police Force for receipt and handling of complaints or petitions is strengthened, and all police officers on duty should be in police-approved uniform with their full names and force numbers boldly written for easy identification.
i.The States should, as resolved by NEC:
– Properly utilize and support the community policing programme of the Federal Government, with active collaborative efforts and participation of traditional rulers, elders, youths, vigilante groups, etc.;
– Establish standing committees under States Ministries of Justice to address human rights violations on a continuous basis; and
– Take measures aimed at flushing out miscreants squatting in uncompleted buildings, and other blackout spots that serve as hideouts for criminals.
12. Of course, NEC also issued an advisory on public protests to mark the first anniversary of the EndSARS protest. While appreciating the role of lawful peaceful protests in the advancement of public discourse under democratic governance, the NEC strongly advised those planning public protests across the country to mark the EndSARS’ anniversary to consider other lawful alternative means of engagement, especially because of the current security situation across the country and the possibility of such protests being hijacked by armed hoodlums and other opportunistic criminals to cause mayhem.
13. Finally, NEC also pointed out the various actions already taken by Federal and State Governments to address the grievances that led to the 2020 protests, including:
* the disbandment of SARS;
*broad police reforms;
*establishment of judicial panels of inquiries to investigate allegations of human rights violations by members of the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies;
* recommendations of which panels are already at various stages of implementation including the setup of Victims Compensation Funds from which several victims have received payments of sums awarded to them by the panels;
*and prosecution of police personnel indicted by the panels.
14. Gentlemen, I thank you for your kind attention.
The Judicial Panel of Inquiry examining the alleged shootings of #EndSARS protesters by soldiers on October 20, 2020 at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos has rejected the request by the operators of the tollgate, Lekki Concession Company, to “take back possession” of the tollgate.
The Chairman of the panel, retired Justice Doris Okuwobi, in a short ruling on Tuesday, said the tollgate plaza would remain closed.
The judge said the panel might have a need to pay another visit to the tollgate plaza after watching the video footage from a surveillance camera submitted by the LCC on Tuesday.
Counsel for LCC, Rotimi Seriki, had counseled the panel to allow the firm “take possession” of the tollgate plaza to evaluate the level of damage for the purpose insurance claims.
Seriki was highlighting an earlier request at the proceeding by the LCC Managing Director, Abayomi Omomuwa, who said save for last Friday when he led the panel on a visit to the toll plaza, the place had been inaccessible to LCC management.
Omomuwa said from what he saw during last Friday visit, the level of damage was so much, it would take LCC not less than six months to fix the tollgate plaza.
Omomuwa, who was answering a question on how soon the tollgate would resume operation, said, “Any projection made here will just be guesswork. When we went there that day, I saw the level of damage. The whole tolling system is completely destroyed. It will not take anything less than six months to fix.
“I want to plead that they let us have access so that we can process insurance.”
Emphasizing Omomuwa’s request, LCC lawyer, Seriki, said, “My humble request is that if the tribunal doesn’t have further need to visit the plaza, the LCC should be permitted to take back possession of the toll plaza for the purpose of evaluation of the damage and commence the process of carrying out necessary repairs.”
But ruling, Justice Okuwobi said the panel agreed that it was necessary for LCC to go and evaluate the level of damage “but we will not grant that access yet. The need may arise for the panel to revisit.”
The panel chairman encouraged LCC to make the application after the panel must have watched the video footage submitted by the firm.
