Protesters in Abuja have tackled the minister of Information and Culture, Lia Mohammed, over his claim that there was no casualty during the October 20, 2020 #EndSARS protest at the Lekki Toll Gate.
Mohammed had held a press conference on Wednesday in Abuja, where he said “today marks the first anniversary of the phantom massacre at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos,” adding “No bodies, no families, no convincing evidence, nothing.”
But some protesters who spoke to THE WHISTLER at the Unity Fountain, Central District Area of Abuja, described Mohammed’s statement as “a lie”, and one told to continue to cover-up the alleged killing of innocent Nigerians who partook in the protest.
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During the media briefing on Wednesday, the minister had asked “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?”
But speaking to THE WHISTLER, a protester who identified himself simply as Patrick said: “…And at this point, one thing that pains me the most is that justice for the people that lost their lives sometime last year — The panel that did the probing, nothing has been given.
“We have not known the perpetrators, the police and the military that carried out the action are still out roaming freely. The video that was said to have been photoshopped, I wonder how this government will confidently lie on national TV and a government that could lie on Live TV is not fit to rule us”.
Similarly, another protester, Comrade Oshocs said, “…And to say people were killed in Lekki on this day, 20th of October, 2020, it is a well-known fact, even if they use all the resources within their powers to deny this, the world knows the truth and the truth will keep revealing itself”.
Another protester who did not to be mentioned told THE WHISTLER that neither Nigerians nor the Federal government had solved anything in the last one year, saying, “all they do is lie”.
He added, “They are still denying the Lekki tollgate massacre and we stand on the fact Lekki massacre happened and Nigerian government killed and there must be justice for that”.
On his part, the convener of the #RevolutionNow movement, Omoyele Sowere, told journalists that he was disappointed over the inability of the minister to carry out his duty accurately.
He said, “The job of the Minister of Information is misinformation and disinformation, and this particular notorious man you mentioned? What is his name again? That particular man is going to die a liar. He will lie on the death day”.
Sowore said, “The EndSARS rebellion as I like to call it, is not about any five demands, it has a demand that can’t be met. It is a demand for fundamental overhaul of a system that is decayed, and there’s no one who is managing the decadence or who can reform it, except you are asking them to pack and go.
“The five demands we are talking about are superficial elimination, we are demanding for police welfare, decongestion of police cells, and punishment of policemen who were involved in SARS atrocities.”