RULAAC has advised the Lagos State government to follow through with the EndSARS panel’s report by prosecuting those involved in the massacre
Commendations have been coming the way of the Lagos EndSARS panel which indicted the Nigerian Army and Police for shooting at protesting Nigerians at Lekki Tollgate on October 20, 2020.
The panel’s report revealed how security agencies took turns to kill Nigerians whose only offence was that they gathered at the Lekki Tollgate to demand an end to police brutality.
The panel recommended prosecution of all those involved in what it termed massacre.
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The Lagos State government has appointed a panel of four to come up with a White Paper on the implementation of the panel’s report.
The Rule of Law Accountability and Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), has warned the White Paper committee against watering down the report of the courageous panel headed by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi.
RULAAC executive director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said: “RULAAC believes that the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry, among other state Panels, has demonstrated the highest level of courage and patriotism in dealing with its terms of reference. The panel made significant findings, awarded monetary compensations to some of the victims whose complaints it found credible. It made far-reaching recommendations for holding perpetrators of human rights violations to account.
“RULAAC commends the work of the panel. We have noted the Lagos State government’s promise to look into the report and the recommendations and to ensure full implementation. We hope that the White Paper committee set up by the Lagos State government will capture the key issues and not water them down. We expect that all those found responsible for the atrocities would be brought to account so as to demonstrate that human rights violations would not be condoned. We particularly look forward to seeing the government ensure that remedies and compensations are accorded to the victims. There should be no cover-ups if the government is truly committed to stamping out impunity,” Nwanguma said.
For Nwanguma, the atrocious act of the Police and the Army at the Lekki Tollgate did not come to him as a surprise as that has been their signature behaviour.
He says: “I had argued in a recent interview/intervention on a debate as to whether indeed the military and police could have shot and killed protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020.
“I asserted that with or without evidence in the particular case of Lekki, it was plausible and likely that the military and police fired live ammunition into the assembly of peaceful protesters and took the victims away dead or seriously injured to cover up evidence. I said it has happened many times in the past.
“During the many instances of the military deployments and police interventions in protests or civil disturbances involving MASSOB, IPOB in the Southeast or the Shites in the North, the military not only shot and killed (and seized dead bodies), but also went from hospital to hospital to arrest wounded people being treated and disappeared them. They often buried them in secret mass graves, often later uncovered. It happened during Peter Obi’s time as Governor of Anambra State. The military also buried- dead and alive- hundreds of members of the Shiites in mass graves in Kaduna as found by the Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up by Governor El-Rufai of Kaduna State
“It was also during Peter Obi’s time as Governor of Anambra State that several floating dead bodies were found in Ezu River in Anambra State. Until Peter Obi completed his two terms as Governor and up to date, the truth about that scandalous tragedy has remained covered up. This was in spite of a Senate Committee investigation into the incident.
“Now, the report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel on EndSARS has only lent credence to the fact- hitherto denied by many within and outside government- that there was the massacre at Lekki Toll Gate.
“I particularly like the recommendation that the date and scene of this atrocity should be memorialised.
“Thank you, patriotic, courageous and forthright members of the Lagos State Judicial Panel. History will be kind to you.
“The identified perpetrators of these heinous crimes and mass atrocities should be brought to account,” Nwanguma said.