Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has dismissed the report on the Lekki toll gate violence, delivered by the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution at the Lagos Court of Arbitration, as one riddled with “errors, inconsistencies, discrepancies, speculations, innuendoes, omissions and conclusions that are not supported by evidence”.
The report, against claims by the federal government, concluded that Nigerian soldiers and police on October 20, 2020, shot and killed unarmed protesters while they were waving the Nigerian flag and singing the national anthem during a protest against police brutality.
Despite multiple evidence, including investigations published by PREMIUM TIMES and CNN, the Nigerian government denied the attack took place. It claimed there were no bodies to prove a massacre occured.
The judicial panel in its report dismissed the government’s claims, and confirmed dozens of peaceful protesters were killed at the toll gate by state agents.
Mr Mohammed, who has led the government’s campaign to deny the events, finally reacted the report on Tuesday.
Speaking to journalists, he claimed the report cannot be relied upon because its authenticity is in doubt.
“Without mincing words, let me say that never in the history of any Judicial Panel in this country has its report been riddled with so many errors, inconsistencies, discrepancies, speculations, innuendoes, omissions, and conclusions that are not supported by evidence. What is circulating in public space is simply a rehash of the unverified fake news that has been playing on social media since the incident of October 20, 2020.
“It is simply incredible that a Judicial Panel set up to investigate an incident has submitted a report laden with allegations, the same allegations it was set up to investigate in the first instance. Instead of sitting for all of one year, the panel could have just compiled social media ‘tales by the moonlight’ on the incident and submitted, saving taxpayers’ funds and everyone’s time. That report is nothing but the triumph of fake news and the intimidation of a silent majority by a vociferous lynch mob.”
He said “critical analyses” of the report by a courageous few have been read.
“One commentator, a lawyer, said it raised more questions than answers. Another commentator, a journalist, called it a ‘disgraceful report by a disgraceful panel’, saying it reported allegations instead of investigating the allegations. Yet another wondered how a Judicial Panel could use the words ‘massacre in context’ and equate such to a massacre. All these and many more have raised valid questions on that report. We salute their courage and refusal to be cowed by the rampaging lynch mob that has been screaming blue murder since the report was released,” Mr Mohammed said.
He also noted that the Lagos State Government, being the convening authority, has yet to release any official report to the public.
“Neither has the panel done so. The cowardly leakage of an unsigned report to the public is not enough. Assuming the report in circulation bears any iota of genuineness, it is basic knowledge that the report of such a panel is of no force until the convening authority issues a White Paper and Gazette on it. It is therefore too premature for any
person or entity to seek to castigate the Federal Government and its agencies or officials based on such an unofficial and unvalidated report,” he said.
He pointed out what he believed to be errors made by the government-appointed panel.
“We do not intend to bore you by rehashing details of the discrepancies, innuendoes, inconsistencies, and errors in that report. They are already in the public space. Let us, however, point out some key highlights of such discrepancies, errors, omissions, etc.
i) – The report threw away the testimony of ballistic experts who testified before it. The experts said, inter alia, in their testimony:
”The Team finds that from the medical data examined, including the timeline of arrival at the medical facility and the nature of the injuries sustained by the victims, who were taken to the 5 medical facilities, that no military grade live ammunition (high-velocity) was fired at the protesters at Lekki Tollgate on 20th October 2020, within the timeframe of reference (18.30- 20.34hrs). That the GSW (Gun Shot Wounds) injuries (4 in number between 19:05 and 19:45 hrs), which were
examined by the Team, can be safely identified as being discharged by either low-velocity caliber and/or artisanal/12-gauge firearms (artisanal firearms are locally-fabricated weapons).
“What is however certain is that had the military personnel deliberately fired military-grade live ammunition directly at the protesters; there would have been significantly more fatalities and catastrophic injuries recorded. This was clearly not the case.
ii) – The same panel that said it deemed as credible the evidence of the Forensic Pathologist, Prof. John Obafunwa, that only three of the bodies on which post mortem were conducted were from Lekki and only one had gunshot injury went on to contradict itself by saying nine persons died of gunshot wounds at Lekki!
iii) – The man whose evidence (that he counted 11 bodies in a military van where he was left for dead before he escaped) was found to be crucial by the panel never testified in person. Rather, the video of his ‘testimony’ was played by someone else. It did not occur to the panel to query the veracity of the testimony of a man who said he was
shot and presumed dead but still had time to count dead bodies inside a supposedly dark van at night!
iv) – The panel said trucks with brushes underneath were brought to the Lekki Toll Gate in the morning of Oct. 21 2020 to clean up bloodstains and other evidence, but still found bullet casings at the same site when it visited on October 20, 2020. It said soldiers picked up bullet casings from Lekki Toll Gate on the night of October 20, 2020, yet claimed that policemen came to the same spot to pick the same bullet casings on October 21, 2020!
v) – The panel was silent on the family members of those reportedly killed, merely insinuating they were afraid to testify. Even goats have owners who will look for them if they do not return home, not to talk of human beings. Where are the family members
of those who were reportedly killed at Lekki Toll Gate? If the panel is recommending compensation for the families, what are their identities and addresses? Who will receive the compensations when no family members have shown up to date?
vi) – How did a man who reported seeing the lifeless body of his brother himself end up being on the list of the panel’s deceased persons?
vii) – How can a Judicial Panel convince anyone that the names of some casualties of the Lekki Toll Gate incident listed as numbers 3 (Jide), 42 (Tola), and 43 (Wisdom) are not fictitious names.
viii) – Why did the Judicial Panel feel compelled to concoct a ”massacre in context” as a euphemism for ”massacre”? A massacre is a massacre. What is ”massacre in context?”
ix) – The report never mentioned cases of police personnel who were brutally murdered or the massive destruction of police stations, vehicles, e.t c during the Endsars protest. Does this mean that the panel didn’t consider policemen and women as human beings?
x) – The report didn’t make any recommendation on the innocent people whose businesses were attacked and destroyed during the protest in Lagos. I think it was too busy looking for evidence to support its conclusion of ‘massacre in context’.
He concluded that the report is not only laden with errors but also did not pass proper scrutiny.
“Gentlemen, there is absolutely nothing in the report that is circulating to make us change our stand that there was no massacre at Lekki on
October 20, 2020. For us to change our stand, a well-investigated report of the incident that meets all required standards and will withstand every scrutiny must be produced and presented to the public. The report in circulation does not meet those requirements. We also appeal to the families of those allegedly killed in Lekki to speak out. It’s untenable to say that some families did not come out because they were afraid. Any parent who is afraid to testify about the death of his or her child is not worth being called a parent.
“We reject the notion that our soldiers and policemen massacred innocent Nigerians at Lekki on October 20, 2020. That conclusion is not supported by the weight of available evidence. Indictment for murder is a very serious issue that cannot be done on the basis of allegations and corroborations, as the panel did. Such allegations must be proved beyond a reasonable doubt. The report in circulation is calculated to embarrass the Federal Government and its agencies without foolproof evidence. The Federal Government has never condoned the abuse of the rights of Nigerians by security agencies under any guise, hence it disbanded SARS and encouraged states to set up the panels to investigate reports of human rights abuses allegedly committed by the disbanded SARS personnel.
“The 37 policemen and six soldiers who died across the country during the Endsars protest are also Nigerians and should not be forgotten.
“Those who have engaged in premature celebration of the report in circulation should now go back and read it thoroughly and tell Nigerians whether it can pass any serious scrutiny.
“We are saddened that anyone died at all during the Endsars protest as the life of every Nigerian and indeed every human is sacrosanct. As we have disclosed many times, 57 civilians, 37 policemen, and six soldiers were killed across the country during the protest, and we commiserate with their families.”
PREMIUM TIMES
