New Telegraph

#EndSARS: FG rejects Lagos panel’s report on toll plaza massacre

…says it’s triumph of fake news

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The Federal Government, yesterday, rejected the report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry that investigated cases of police brutality as well as the shooting incident of October 20, 2020, at Lekki Toll Plaza in Lagos. Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who made the position of the government known at a news conference in Abuja, said the report in circulation is riddled with many errors, inconsistencies, discrepancies, speculations, innuendoes, omissions and conclusions that are not supported by evidence. Mohammed, who raised a series of questions about the authenticity of the report, expressed concern that it was silent on the family members of those reportedly killed and merely insinuated that 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? 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 20th, 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.

The minister declared that there was absolutely nothing in the report in circulation that could make the government change its stand that there was no massacre at Lekki on October 20, 2020. He said that for the government to change its stand, a well-investigated report of the incident that meets all required standards as well as 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 20th 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 iscalculatedtoembarrassthe Federal Government and its agencies without fool-proof 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,” he said.

The minister described as premature, the celebration of the report by the Cable News Network (CNN) and a section of the Nigerian media, challenging all to go back and read it thoroughly and tell Nigerians whether it can pass any serious scrutiny. On the calls for his resignation for his continued opposition to the general belief that there was massacre at Lekki Tollgate, Mohammed said he was not bothered about such calls because peoplehadalwaysclamoured for his removal since the day of his appointment.

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