The Lagos State government has called for restraint as divergent reactions have trailed the report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS-Related Abuses and Other Matters.
The report of the panel, containing its findings and recommendations, leaked out on Monday and has received varied responses, from mainly kudos to a few knocks.
The report was titled, ‘Report of Lekki Incident Investigation Of 20th October 2020’, a 309-page compendium of the events that took place during the period of the protests.
Contrary to the position of the federal government and its agencies, which maintained that nobody was shot at the Lekki Tollgate on the night of October 20, 2020, the report declared that people were indeed shot at with live bullets and some of the victims died.
To douse the tension, and also piqued by the escalating reactions over the report, the Lagos State government has said that it meant well in setting up the panel.
The government spoke via a statement issued by the Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso.
According to the statement: “The Lagos State Government has noted the various reactions that have followed the submission of the report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters. There have been arguments in the public space over the report.
“There is need for us to restrain ourselves from nullifying the good intentions of the government in setting up this Panel, which was well encouraged to do its job – a fact that was acknowledged by the Panel.
“In accordance with the Tribunal of Inquiry Law 2015, a committee has been set up to bring up a White Paper on the report to determine the next line of action. At the appropriate time, the Government will make known its views on all the issues raised by the Panel through the release of a White Paper.◦
According to the report, at least 48 persons were shot at with live bullets out of which 11 persons were proclaimed “deceased” by the panel.
According to the panel’s report, those who died were killed at the Lekki toll gate, when soldiers were drafted to the place on the night of October 20, to disperse the protesters.
Apart from the 11 that died, the report noted that the other victims had varying degrees of injuries.
Among the 48, about 20 sustained gunshot injuries, while 13 others were assaulted by the military.
Those declared as “deceased” in the report were: Victor Sunday Ibanga, Abuta Solomon, Jide, Olalekan Abideen Ashafa, Olamilekan Ajasa, Kolade Salami, Folorunsho Olabisi, Kenechukwu Ugoh and Nathaniel Solomon. Two of the names, Kolade Salami and Folorunsho Olabisi, are repeated on the list of the deceased.
Those listed as “presumed dead” were Abiodun Adesanya, Ifeanyi Nicholas Eji, Tola and Wisdom.
According to the panel, there were 96 other corpses that were presented by a forensic pathologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Prof John Obafunwa.
The lays blame on different actors in the events during the protests that led to the shootings. Some of the actions were those that impeded the panel’s work, it noted.
“From the totality of the evidence before it, the panel finds that some sets of cameras
stationed at the Lekki Toll Gate were removed by members of Staff of LCC on
October 2020, and they were not tendered before the panel. These cameras
would have assisted the panel in its investigation into the incident that occurred
in the night of the 20th October, 2020,” the report said.
It also indicted some of the military personnel who performed various acts at the scene of the protests. In its recommendations, it noted that:
“All officers (excluding Major General Omata) and men of the Nigerian Army that were deployed in the Lekki Tollgate on October 20, 2020 should be made to face appropriate disciplinary action, stripped of their status, and dismissed as they are not fit and proper to serve in any public or security service of the nation.”
It was the same for the Divisional Police Officer of the Maroko Police Station, who, along with policemen deployed from the Maroko Police Station on October 20 and 21, 2020 should be prosecuted for arbitrary and indiscriminate shooting and killing of protesters, as the panel recommended.
But these recommendations have not gone down well with everyone. One of those who have been irked by the report and its recommendations is General Lucky Irabor, the Chief of Defence Staff.
According to the General, the normal procedure in a situation like this is for the report to be submitted first to the convening authority. “Then there will be a white paper presented based on which one can then make informed comment,” the CDS said in Benin City on Tuesday, a day after the report leaked.
“But whatever it is, currently, I will like to indicate that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is a professional armed Forces which remain committed to constitutional mandate”.
“If there are issues, of course, we address them within the ambit of the divisions.
“It will not be right to disparage men and women who have worked so hard to ensure that the territorial integrity of the Nation is kept intact.
“So until I see the full report, I may not be able to say anything. But I can assure you that the Armed Forces of Nigeria is well disciplined and do not engage in the ignoble act,” the General said in response to questions from journalists.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu did promise on Monday when he received the full report, that he would set up a committee to study the report and issue a white paper from it.
The four-member committee will be chaired by the State’s Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), while the Commissioner for Youths and Social Development, Mr Segun Dawodu; the Special Adviser, Works and Infrastructure, Mrs Aramide Adeyoye; and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office, Mrs Tolani Oshodi, will be members.
