#EndSars Massacre: CSO Demands Immediate Independent Probe

The United Action Front of Civil Society has demanded a fully independent public probe and actions over the killings of ENDSARS protesters in Lagos October 20, 2020.

The leadership of the United Action Front while condemning the disposition of the Lagos State Government, said that it considered the leak of the mass burial of 103 #EndSARS victims by the Lagos State Government as a confirmation of the killings of unarmed civilian protesters and citizens at the Lekki Tollgate and various locations in Nigeria in October 2020.

They stated that this is the latest revelation, coming almost three years after the ugly incident which drew condemnations across the globe, speaks copiously to the repression and lack of transparency that characterized governance under the prevailing system in Nigeria.

The organised civil society of Nigeria maintained that this gruesome mass killings violated the fundamental human rights of the victims as recognized by the Nigerian Constitution and as provided for in regional and international statues.

In a statement issued by head, national coordinating centre, United Action Front of Civil Society, Olawale Okunniyi, the platform said, “This expose underpins the grand conspiracy between security agencies, especially the military and Lagos State Government in an attempt to cover up the impunity perpetrated against Nigerian Citizens at the lekki Tollgate and across other locations listed in the media response of Lagos State Government.

“The leadership of the United Action Front of Civil Society condemns the recklessness and cold-hearted disposition of the Lagos State Government for putting up a brazen denial, for close to three years, in the face of overwhelming disclosures and evidences from local and international media.

“It is instructive that while Lagos State Government has laboriously denied the killings of protesters at Lekki Toll Gate, which was invaded by the military, the atrocities perpetrated in other recently listed locations by government were also concealed.

“Governor Sanwo-Olu and agents of his government have all along been evasive on the reported killings in Alausa, the seat of power and other locations in the Lagos metropolis, until the mass burial of the victims were leaked to the public last week.

“Nigerians and global stakeholders are no doubt shocked by the revelations in the leaked official correspondence between the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency and Lagos State Ministry of Health, which clearly exposed the perfidy of supposed leaders of our society, who ought to be accountable to the people.

“The leaked letter wherein the secret mass burial for the 103 victims of the year 2020 EndSARS civil protest were inadvertently exposed, has finally confirmed the evil perpetrated by the State against unarmed civilians protesting police brutality across Nigeria.”

It is also recalled that in the wake of the public enquiry set up by Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, attempts were made by both military authority and the government to divert attention from the widely reported massacre of defenseless citizens in Lekki.

However, while the invasion of Lekki Toll Gate and other protest centres in Lagos on the eve of October 20, 2020 has never been in doubt, it is evident that the Lagos State Government did all within its powers to conceal mass killings of civilians that took place within its jurisdiction.

It could also be recalled that former President Muhammadu Buhari on a national television chat also alleged that the EndSARS protest was an attempt to forcibly remove him from office ostensibly justifying the reckless and brutal manner the peaceful civilian protest was quelled having been perceived as insurrection against government.

The United Action Front of Civil Society therefore calls on the global community to hold the Lagos State Government, the Federal Government of Nigeria as well as the Nigerian military accountable for the callous mass murder, irresponsible denial of their probable atrocities as well the concealment of the identities of the victims of #EndSARS protests.