The major news item trending on both the conventional and social media since this week is the content of the report of the Lagos State judicial panel of inquiry on Police brutality headed by Justice Doris Okuwobi.
Since that report was made public, the news channels and their Nigerian audience have remained humbled by the candor of the panel and their courage in confirming that there were, indeed, killings at the Lekki toll gate on 20th October, 2020. The panel was specific in pointing out that what has been largely described as massacre actually took place and that both the military and the police should be held culpable.
It also admitted that efforts were made to tamper with evidence such as removing the bodies of the dead, clearing the bullet shells as well as the manipulation of the CCTV footage that captured what actually happened. In spite of all these, the panel was able to get to the bottom of the matter and unveiled the truth covered by falsehood.
The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has, reportedly, put in place a four-man committee headed by the Attorney-General to prepare a White Paper for the purpose of implementing the findings and recommendations expressed in the report and to give it legal backing. Also, he has pledged to send the report to the National Economic Council. Before this report and in the immediate reactions to that unfortunate incident, officialdom had insisted that there was no massacre at the toll gate.
There were widespread denials on its part that lives were lost at that scene of mayhem let alone anyone sustaining injuries of whatever description. A senior military officer had once said that the military, by training, are cultured to shoot to kill not to maim or disable.
That, in the opinion of most Nigerians, was the first mistake by government when it deployed soldiers to the Lekki toll gate, where there was no violence to confront a group of young people flying the national flag and chanting the national anthem.
The panel said this much and described that act of indiscretion as totally unwarranted. Against earlier stand by government sources, the panel confirmed nine people dead and another four missing, but presumed dead, making a total of 13 not to mention those injured in the stampede that ensued when the soldiers opened fire. As at the time of going to press, only the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, from the federal government side, had reacted to the report in which he, expectedly, strained himself to defend the military just as he attempted to question the authenticity of the report. While the nation awaits the white paper which will contain the state government’s position on the entire exercise it set in motion one year ago, it is safe to commend the panel for the courage of its conviction which shone throughout the report.
It called a spade a spade not minding whose ox is gored. In our opinion, even more commendation should go to Governor Sanwo-Olu who resisted an intense political pressure and went ahead to set up the panel in the first place. He did not stop there. Being a member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), he put his right foot forward, risking his political career by giving the panel the leverage it needed to do the yeoman’s job it has just concluded.
In the end, the truth, as stubborn as it will always be, prevailed to the admiration of Nigerians and the international community. The panel made recommendations, which included but not limited to holistic Police reforms covering welfare, training and proper equipping and their working environment. The panel insisted that sanction must be meted out to the officers of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Police Force, respectively, who participated in shooting, injuring and killing of unarmed protestors at the Lekki toll gate on that fateful October 20, 2020 date.
It also urged the authorities to facilitate the development of more robust engagement between the youth and the government as well as the setting up of a standing committee/tribunal to deal with cases of violation of human rights by security agencies and a trust fund to settle compensation awarded by such committee/tribunal.
Similarly, the panel recommended that the government should issue a public apology to EndSARS protesters who were killed, injured and traumatised by the incident and also memorialise the Lekki toll gate and the 20th of October going forward. Now that it has been proved that the government acted high-handedly in the way it handled the crisis, and as the United Nations and the United States of America government suggest, it is time to embark on the journey of recovery and to ensure that on no account must the military and Police use the weapons bought with tax payers’ money to intimidate and unjustly kill the same people they took an oath to defend and protect. More importantly, in our view, the authorities owe the Nigerian people a duty to play straight and fair under such circumstances in the future.
At the Lekki toll gate were Nigerians and not some invading army. To realise this and not to talk tongue in cheek is the only way to save themselves the embarrassment the #EndSARS saga has turned out to be.
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