#EndSARS Panel Report: Activist Deji Adeyanju Blasts, Curses Lai Mohammed, Buhari
Following the #EndSARS Panel Report: Activist Deji Adeyanju Blasts, Curses Lai Mohammed, Buhari
Human rights’ activist, Deji Adeyanju, has taken a swipe at Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who claimed that there was no evidence of killings at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos State.
The minister had repeatedly said at various press conferences that there was no proof that any protester was killed at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos state in October 2020.
On October 20, 2020, some soldiers reportedly opened fire on protesters in an attempt to disperse them, but some were allegedly killed and wounded in the attack.
#EndSARS Panel Report
The protesters were calling on the authorities to scrap the now-defunct special anti-robbery squad (SARS) over cases of brutality, harassment, extortion and extrajudicial killing.
Reacting to the development, Adeyanju, said God would judge all those who claimed people weren’t killed at Lekki on October 20, 2020.
He wrote on Twitter: “NEWS: 11 peace protesters killed, 4 missing & now presumed dead. -Lagos #EndSARS Report. Now that the Panel set up by the Govt has listed the peaceful protesters killed by the Army at Lekki Tollgate, may God judge Lai Mohammed and all Buharists who lied that nobody was killed there.”
Addressing a press conference in Abuja recently, the minister, Mohammed, had described the event at the tollgate as a “phantom massacre”.
He had said: “One year later, and despite ample opportunities for the families of those allegedly killed and those alleging a massacre to present evidence, there has been none: No bodies, no families, no convincing evidence, nothing. 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?”
He also faulted a claim by Amnesty International that no fewer than 12 protesters were killed in Lagos State by security operatives during the EndSARS protest.
Mohammed also asked the Cable News Network (CNN), DJ Switch among others to “apologise for misleading the world that there was a massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate and for portraying the Nigerian military, police and other security agencies in a bad light.”
However, on Monday, the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and other matters, in a report, said the atrocious killing of unarmed protesters at Lekki toll gate can be equated to a massacre.
In the report, titled, ‘Report Of Lekki Incident Investigation Of 20th October 2020’, a copy of which was sighted by this newspaper, the panel said at least 48 protesters were either shot dead, injured with bullets wounds or assaulted by soldiers who stormed the Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020.
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