UPDATED: Lagos Gov’t Faults #EndSARS Panel Report In White Paper

The Lagos State Government has faulted the report of the judicial panel it constituted to investigate the alleged shooting of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020.

In its white paper seen by THE WHISTLER on Tuesday, the state government described the findings and conclusion of the judicial panel as “totally unreliable” and “unacceptable.”

This website had reported that the retired Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel had indicted the Nigerian Army and the Lagos State government for allegedly killing unarmed #EndSARS protesters at the toll gate on October 20, 2020.

But the Lagos government faulted the panel’s claim that Nigerian security forces killed at least nine unarmed protesters at toll gate and cleaned up evidence of the alleged killings.

The state government conveyed its position in the white paper it released on Tuesday night in response to the report recently submitted to it by the judicial panel.

Part of the white paper reads, “…the findings are clearly and manifestly not supported by evidence before the JPI (Judicial Panel of Investigation) as attested to by the JPI itself, when it said there was no contrary evidence to that of Prof. Obafunwa that only one person died at LTG (Lekki Toll Gate) of gunshot wounds on 21st October 2020. The State Government is therefore unable to accept the finding that nine (9) people died of gunshot wounds at LTG on 20th October 2020.

“It also follows that the irresistible conclusion to be drawn from the JPI’s acceptance pf Prof Obafunwa’s testimony that only (1) person died of gunshot wounds at LTG on 21st October 2020 is that there was no massacre at LTG, contextual or otherwise.

“The findings of the JPI that nine people died at LTG on 20th October 2020 from gunshot wounds fired by the Military are based on assumptions and speculations.

“The inconsistencies and the contradictions in the entire JPI report concerning the number of persons who died at LTG on 20th October 2020 and their cause of death rendered the JPI’s findings and conclusions thereon totally unreliable and therefore unacceptable.”

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu had earlier urged Lagos residents to shun “those fueling anarchy and suspicion, clinging to unsubstantiated belief that carries no weight of verifiable evidence and choosing emotion over hard facts.”

The governor further announced that he would be leading youths in the state on a peace walk in December “to herald the healing of the land.”

Sanwo-Olu invited celebrities and social media influencers such as Folarin Falana (Falz), Debo Adebayo (Mr. Marcaroni), Dele Farotimi, Temitope Majekodunmi, Segun Awosanya (Segalinks), and Seun Kuti, amongst others, to join him on the peace walk.

Kuti, Falz and Mr Marcaroni have, however, rejected the governor’s invitation, insisting that justice must be served to victims of police brutality before healing can take place.