Since the Lagos State Judicial Panel report on the #EndSARS protest and the events at the Lekki tollgate on the 20th of October, 2020 found it way to the internet, there have been several reactions to it. While Nigerians, including the international community, have called on government to implement the recommendations of the panel’s report, the Federal Governmet had been largely quiet until now.
Yesterday, the Federal Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, came out to reinstate the belief of the Federal Government that the alleged Lekki tollgate massacre is nothing but a script written by those who seek to discredit the President Buhari administration.
He maintained this damning assertion while pointing out several flaws in the report which according to him, proved that the report was another witch hunt. The minister motioned to at least seven missteps of the panel in the report which has now questioned the credibility and thoroughness of their investigations after more than one year of sitting,
Here are seven ‘inconsistencies and errors’ in the controversial #EndSARS panel report that Lai Mohammed highlighted in his press briefing on Tuesday:
1. Ballistic Report
“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 a 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.”
2. Forensics
“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!”
3. Victim Testimony
“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!”
4. Bloodstains and Bullet Casings
“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 Oct. 30th, 2020. It said soldiers picked up bullet casings from Lekki Toll Gate on the night of Oct. 20th, 2020, yet claimed that policemen came to the same spot to pick the same bullet casings on Oct. 21st, 2020!”
5. Absent Families of the Victims
“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?”
6. Victims List
“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.? 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?'”
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?
7. One-Sided Report
“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? 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’.”
Recent Comments