Connect with us

Uncategorized

Lai Mohammed Identifies Seven Errors In The Leaked Lagos Panel #EndSARS Report

Lai Mohammed

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’.”

Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Celebs

One Half Of The Estranged Duo P-Square Declares Nov 30 as his new birthday

Mr P has officially moved his birthday celebration from November 18 to November 30, adding a new layer to the ongoing P-Square family feud. What began as a social media declaration has now been formalised. A few hours after announcing his intention to change his birthday date, Peter Okoye, known professionally as Mr P, has issued an open letter confirming that November 18, the date he has shared with his twin brother Paul Okoye since birth in 1981, is no longer his day of celebration.

“Dear Family, Friends, and Fans,” the post read. “I’m making it official. November 18th is no longer my birthday celebration date. Please note that I will not be accepting any messages or gifts on that day. My birthday will now be celebrated on November 30th. This is a personal decision, and I truly appreciate your understanding.”

The message is brief, but its implications are quite clear. November 18 has long been one of the last remaining public symbols of a shared identity between two brothers whose professional and personal relationship has deteriorated sharply over the past several years.

By formally reassigning the date, Peter is drawing a line that goes beyond creative differences or business disputes.

The reaction from Nigerians online has been largely sceptical.

Many have questioned the necessity of the gesture, with a significant number describing it as petty and unnecessary given the more substantive issues that have defined the brothers’ current estrangement.

The consensus among critics is that changing a birthday date does little to resolve any of the actual grievances and serves mainly as a public statement of severance.

The feud between Peter and Paul Okoye has now spanned multiple years, two official splits, a brief reunion, and a growing list of public accusations on both sides. November 30 is still months away. To see if the gesture will land as true liberation or just pettiness may depend entirely on where things stand by then.

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Wizkid, Rema, and Tyla Make Spotify’s 100 Greatest Pop Songs of the Streaming Era

BET AWARDS 2022

Spotify’s ‘100 Greatest Pop Songs of the Streaming Era’ is out. See why Wizkid, Rema, and Tyla secured high rankings on this list of global hits.
Spotify just made it official. The platform’s editorial team, a cross-disciplinary group of editors and curators, has released its ranked list of the 100 Greatest Pop Songs of the Streaming Era, covering music from 2015 to the present.

Landing in the top ten is no small thing on a list this competitive, and Drake, Wizkid, and Kyla’s 2016 collaboration ‘One Dance’ earns its place. Drake had already been paying close attention to Afrobeats; his unofficial remix of Wizkid’s ‘Ojuelegba’ signalled as much, but ‘One Dance’ was the moment that brought the sound to a truly global audience.

Built on Afrobeats and dancehall rhythms, the track gave Drake his first Billboard Hot 100 number one as a lead artist and became the first song in Spotify history to reach one billion streams. But its significance goes well beyond the numbers. ‘One Dance’ was a blueprint and proof that Afrobeats could anchor a mainstream pop record without diluting itself, and became the door swung wide open for the artists who came after.

Rema’s ‘Calm Down’ was already a certified hit before Selena Gomez joined it, however, with her on the track, it became something else entirely. The track is warm and infectious, the remix pairing Rema’s mischievous energy with Gomez’s confidence.

The result crossed every boundary a song can cross. It became the most successful Afrobeats single in Billboard chart history and the first African artist-led track to reach one billion streams on Spotify. More than a commercial milestone, ‘Calm Down’ rewrote the playbook on what a global remix can accomplish without watering down, but instead, amplifying the sound.

Tyla’s inclusion at number 50 marks something equally significant, just from a different direction.

‘Water’ introduced Amapiano, the South African genre defined by its log drum and hypnotic groove, to listeners who had never encountered it before. It did so without sacrificing any of what makes the sound distinctive. The song won the inaugural Grammy for Best African Music Performance and made Tyla the first South African solo artist to appear on the Billboard Hot 100 in 55 years. Its placement on this list confirms what the chart history suggested, that Amapiano is no longer a regional sound. It’s pop.

The fact that these are staff picks matters. Spotify’s editors aren’t rewarding streams alone, but also making a curatorial argument about what has genuinely shaped pop music in this era. Their argument includes Afrobeats and Amapiano sitting comfortably alongside Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo, and The Weeknd. African artists are no longer appearing on these lists as novelties or outliers and that is worthy of note.

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

INEC Announces Dates For 2027 Presidential, Governorship Elections

Electronic Transmission

INEC has announced the kick-off date for the 2027 national elections.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the dates for the 2027 national elections. This was made known to the public in a press conference by the commission’s chairman, Professor Joash Ojo Amupitan, SAN.

INEC, following the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, which requires the commission to publish notice of elections not later than 360 days before the appointed date, has announced February and March as dates for national elections in 2027.

Speaking at the press conference Prof Amupitan stated that the tenure of the President, Vice-President, Governors, and Deputy Governors, except in Anambra, Bayelsa, Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kogi, and Ondo States, will lapse on 28 May 2027. Membership of the National and State Assemblies will dissolve on 8 June 2027.

The presidential and national elections will take place on February 20, 2027, while the governorship and state House of Assembly elections will take place on March 6, 2027.

INEC will be having another busy year as Nigerians will be heading to the polls to choose new leaders across the national and state political positions.

Next year, the commission will be led by Professor Joash Amupitan SAN, who was sworn in by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on October 23, 2025, on a 5-year tenure after the end of the two terms of Professor Yakubu Mahmood.

INEC is again under heavy public scrutiny, especially the position of its chairman, who has come under fire from different Islamic organisations who have called for his resignation over his previous statement alleged made against the muslim population.

The commission will be conducting the national elections on a budget of ₦873 billion. From the huge budget, ₦379.75 billion will cater to operating costs, ₦92.32 billion for adminstrative cost, while ₦209.21 billion will go to financing the technological costs. Other costs include Election capital costs, which will gulp ₦154.91billion while ₦42.61 billion will cover miscellaneous expenses.

Continue Reading

Trending