#OccupyLekkiTollGate: SAN Threatens To Quit SARS Panel Over ‘Fresh Assault’ On Protesters

….Says Security Agencies Have Not Learnt Any Positi

A member of the Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN, has disclosed that he may back out from the panel following what he termed as “fresh assaults” against protesters by security agencies at the Lekki Toll Gate.

THE WHISTLER earlier reported that about 35 people were apprehended by security agencies in connection with the ‘Occupy Lekki Toll Gate’ protest which had been banned by the police and the Lagos State Government.

But Adegboruwa said that the way and manner the protesters were treated by the security was proof that the reformation of the police as promised by the federal government was far from being realized.

He also said that he would not want to deceive himself by remaining with the panel when the reason for which it was established had not instilled human rights values in the handlers of the country’s security.

He added on Saturday that he was making consultations as to whether he should pull out from the panel.

His words on Facebook reads: “I have been monitoring events at the Lekki Toll Gate since morning, and I am totally overwhelmed with the images, videos and sundry evidence of police brutality of armless civilians, who ventured to protest at the Toll Gate. In one particular video, I saw citizens of Nigeria being dehumanized, striped half naked and cramped together in a rickety bus. This is totally unacceptable.

“While we are yet to come to terms with the events of October 20, 2020, it becomes worrisome that the security agencies have not learnt any positive lesson from those occurrences. I commend the protesters for their peaceful conduct.

“I cannot in good conscience continue to sit at any Panel of Inquiry to heal wounds and end police brutality, when fresh assaults are being perpetrated with impunity. Consequently, I am presently consulting with my constituency within the civil society, as to my continued participation in the EndSARS Judicial Panel.”

Furthermore, while urging members of the public to exercise restraint, he called for the immediate release of the protesters, alleging that “the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari is a product of protest and civil disobedience.”

Recall that the unsavory incidents at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020, is fresh on the minds of some Nigerians and they had called for justice for those allegedly killed by security agents.

Lagos panel’s approval of reopening of the Toll Gate without a final report yet did not go down well with some Nigerians.

On its part, the federal government had warned against disrupting the state under the guise of protest.