Displaying items by tag: EndSARS

The Spokesperson Coalition of Concerned Civil Society Groups, Comrade Nelson Ekujumi stated that the panel arrived at a conclusion without premise

The human right and good governance advocate, said this in an interview as a guest on CityTalks with Reuben Abati where he seemed to have agreed with the position of the Lagos State government on the White Paper Report.

Ekujumi opined that the Whitepaper has come to do justice to inconsistencies.

The White Paper on the Judicial Panel of Inquiry report set up to investigate the Lekki Toll Gate incident on October 20, 2020 has elicited mixed opinions.

On October 20, 2020, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu launched a judicial panel led by Justice Doris Okuwobi to investigate petitions alleging police brutality in the state and alleged protester shootings.

The panel issued two reports on November 15, one on police brutality cases and the other on the probe into the Lekki incident.

Following the panel's report's submission, Sanwo-Olu formed a four-member team to draft a white paper on the panel's recommendations.

The white-paper committee will be chaired by Lagos Attorney-General Moyosore Onigbanjo.

The Lagos State Government revealed in the 24-page document that it accepted eleven (11), rejected one (1), and accepted six (six) with modifications out of the 32 recommendations made by the Judicial Panel of Inquiry in its Report dated November 15, 2021.

Fourteen (14) proposals fall outside of Lagos State government's powers and will be referred to the Federal Government for consideration.

Ekujumi stated that he found it worrisome that the findings of the Judicial panel were not based on facts and evidence, but was premised on “hearsay.”

According to him, there are many inconsistencies and contradictions in the report that was submitted by the Justice Okuwobi’s panel.

He recalled three observations he had noticed in the report; “Nathaniel Solomon who said that his younger brother, Solomon Abuta was killed at the Lekki Toll gate.

“In the findings, I saw his name among the deceased.

“And that tells you that something is wrong with the Judicial Panel report and findings,” Ekujumi said.

He added, “When you look at the story concerning the death of his brother, this was a petitioner whose story was not corroborated by any utter of evidence.”

Another instance, Ekujumi mentioned was that of the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Maroko Police Station and his men who were alleged by petitioners of being responsible for deaths of protesters on October 20, 2020 after the army had left.

The DPO was allegedly wearing white jalabia when he led his men to the toll gate and shot at protesters and killed them. 

He said, when the petitioners were asked about photo or video evidence of the DPO with white Jalabia bearing arms with his men; they didn’t have.

He stated further, that when the counsel summoned the DPO, he challenged his accusers to produce any iota of evidence to back up their claim. In addition, he told the panel that wearing a jalabia is not part of the police uniform, and that he could never have done so for safety and security reasons while on an operation.

Ekujumi added that when the petitioners were called for a rebuttal; they had no evidence.

Another mention by Ekujumi, was that of someone who was awarded N10 million who was not a petitioner.

He said, “From my own little understanding of the Judiciary, they are not a father Christmas.

“The person is not a petitioner; how did the panel resolve that they should give her N10million?”

When field with question concerning by Dr Reuben Abati about the position of Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN), where the SAN said that the Lagos State is not in the position or has no power to either accept or reject recommendations of the panel, and what is regarded as inconsistencies are basically computer errors and there are more revelations that he will be willing to bring to the table.

In a reaction by Ekujumi, “if Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN, has any quarrel with the findings of the panel’s report and as well as the white paper released by the government, he has the option of going to court to challenge the white paper or the legality of the white paper.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comrade Declan Ihekiare, human right activist and an independent observer of the EndSARS panel report is of the opinion that the bulk of the blame should go to the Federal government in charge of security agencies.

Ihekiare said this on Saturday on CityTalks with Reuben Abati, where he stated that apology should come from the Federal government.

The EndSARS panel, headed by a retired judge, Doris Okuwobi, had on Monday submitted its reports on the Lekki shooting and police brutality during the October 2020 EndSARS protests, to the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

However, due to trust concerns, a member of the panel allegedly leaked the report to the public.

The Nigerian Army, Police, and other complicit persons were charged in the killings at the Lekki toll gate, according to the report.

The Panel report, has generated a lot of controversies, whereby the counsel for the State and for the victims were controverted.

In a reaction from the state government, “whoever leaked the report is not following due process.”

He expressed his displeasure on the attacks coming from both the lawyer from the state and that of the panel.

The human right activist stated categorically that the EndSARS report needs to be subjected to critical analysis.

However, he made a few mentions of discrepancies he observed in the report.

According to him, “I was not comfortable with the report where 4 protesters were presumed dead.

“I wanted a situation, where the panel will come up to confirm their demise.

“I saw a situation where the panel was saying that we are equating what happened that day to a massacre.

“In my view, a massacre is a massacre, you don’t need to equate anything.

“It is either there was a massacre there or not.”

He added, the report should be all sided, which implies that everybody that was affected in the struggle that led to the establishment of the panel should be included.”

In Ihekiare’s recommendations, both the federal government, Lagos state government and the military need to come up with their own white paper.

 

 

Dele Farotimi Lawyer and Human Rights Activist declared that protests are for reactionaries and it is a waste of time.

Farotimi made this know in as a guest on CityTalks with Reuben Abati on City 105.1.

It's been a year since Nigeria was rocked by the historic #ENDSARS protest, a youth-led anti-police brutality action.

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), a now-disbanded police tactical unit infamous for cruelty against criminal suspects, sparked the protest, which developed from social media campaigns into street rallies in October 2020.

The protest became a platform for demanding government action against insecurity, corruption, economic woes, and general maladministration blamed for the suffering of the majority of Nigerians and lack of opportunities for the youth. Although SARS activities and general issues of police brutality, including unlawful arrests, torture, and extrajudicial killings, were at its core, the protest became a platform for demanding government action against insecurity, corruption, economic woes, and general maladministration blamed for the suffering of the majority of Nigerians.

The Lagos based lawyer stated that the Nigerian state is deaf to change.

He further stated that he cannot go out protesting to a deaf entity.

When fielded with questions why there was a stacked division in terms of the response to the #ENDSARS protest in the northern region except the Federal Capital Territory: because the protest was more significant in south, rather than a national affair; Mr Farotimi was of the opinion that the northern region will not come out because most of them don’t understand what is going on and moreso they the issue of banditry, kidnapping to deal with.

In retrospect: according to the human right activist, “nothing has changed, every Nigerian is a victim of Nigerian.

“Each of us has become victimized by the abominable insanities that we have normalized

“Nobody can discount the humanity of the policeman.

“I have friends, family members who are police men and I know the deplorable conditions they live.

“When you demand that the humanity of a man be recognized and the man denies the humanity of the person from whom is demanding recognition, it doesn’t work like that.

“Is not about people not remembering that policemen who died, but we should ask ourselves; in what circumstances?

“Were the policemen killed by peaceful protesters for whom the likes of me will speak for?

“Or by miscreants they brought to disrupt the peaceful protest?”

He said, “I believe we have learnt several lessons, when you speak in relation to the Nigerian State and the rulers of Nigeria, it is either we conclude that they either learnt nothing at all or they are very deliberate in responding to what they did learnt by merely reinforcing the extent of their readiness to cow the citizenry.

“In so far as it relates to learning lessons, the enthusiasm of the Nigerian youth that felt the #Endsars movement has not being dampened, but they have learnt that they are not protesting to a benign moral force to whom appeals would elicit anything other than bullets.

“The events that terminated the protest have sufficiently advertised the nature of the country in which we leave.

“The state has done a fantastic job of reinforcing just exactly how little it has either learnt or how little it is prepared to change

“Because the same brutality that led to the end of the protest was on open display.”

Minister Lai Mohammed, Information Minister and Culture has said that were false and misleading as most of those who made the claims of losing people were yet to show up and give evidence a year after such allegations.

In a rebuttal concerning Mr Mohammed’s comment, Farotimi said; “In the first place there was a live Instagram feed, nobody has argued about that.

“In the second place, before the panel in Lekki the Nigerian Army was busy a probating and reprobating but eventually a fact was established in that place, that bullets were fired; fact established forensically.

“Secondly, there were hospitals who have brought their testimony before the panel, establishing clearly that they received gunshot injuries victims from the tollgate, established beyond reasonable doubt.

“I witness what happened on 20 October, 2020 and I listened to the testimony of DJ Switch.”

He added, “What will make an intelligent person like Raji Fashola, Honourable Federal Minister of works and Housing going to the toll gate to discover a camcorder that was not missing, if it is not a furtherance of a fraud to cover up what they did in that place.

“What else explains that level of iodophilia stupidity.

“Where is that camcorder today?

“Enough lies have been told that day to stitch together a very picture of the truth.”