The Lagos State government is seeking to engage the services of two expert witnesses to debunk claims that it had a hand in the military’s alleged shooting and/or killing of #EndSARS’ protesters at the Lekki Tollgate Plaza last October 22.
The counsel representing the state government, Mr Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN), on Saturday sought permission for the witnesses from the Lagos judicial panel probing police brutality and the Lekki Tollgate shootings.
Owonikoko’s oral application, if granted, would enable both experts to give evidence on all the Lekki Tollgate Plaza incident petitions together.
There are no fewer than 14 petitions relating to the shooting incident, out of the 235 petitions received by the panel between October and December 2020.
Counsel for the Lekki Concession Company (LCC), which operates the plaza, Mr Rotimi Seriki, aligned himself with Owonikoko’s prayer.
Seriki also applied for the panel to allow the LCC present a uniform response to all the Lekki tollgate incident petitions.
But the counsel to some of the #EndSARS protest victims, Mr Adeshina Ogunlana, opposed the applications.
According to him, the Lagos State government had not been accused or alleged to have been involved in the shooting of the Lekki Tollgate Plaza incident.
He said the state and LCC counsel were not representatives or agents of the Nigerian Army.
Meanwhile, earlier at the hearing, a petitioner Patrick Ukala narrated how he was shot on October 22, allegedly by soldiers.