By Emma Ogbuehi
Following the submission of the #EndSARS panel report and the global outcry over the alleged role played by security agencies in the killing of protesters at the Lekki tollgate plaza on October 20, 2020, Lagos State government has called for restraint.
The Federal Government had disclaimed the allegation of massacre of innocent protesters.
But the Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel concluded that there were at least 48 casualties, with nine deaths.
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The panel’s report has elicited national and international outcry.
But in a late night press statement on Wednesday, the Lagos State Government said it had 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.
The statement by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, acknowledged that there have been arguments in the public space over the report, but called for restraint in order not to jeopardise the good intentions of the state government.
“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,” the statement declared.
“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,” Omotoso further said.