Ten days after the report of the panel of inquiry into the shooting at the Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos State was made public, lawyers and civil society organisations have berated the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, for “being economical with the truth about the October 20, 2020 incident in Lagos.”
Faulting the position of the minister on behalf of the federal government in describing the report as fake and recycled, the lawyers and civil society organisations called on the federal government to ensure the full implementation of the recommendations of the panel. New National Star reports that the minister had at a press briefing in Abuja on Tuesday, insisted that the Cable Network News (CNN) made a mistake by claiming that there was a massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020, adding that the news company goofed in its reportage of the panel’s findings. He also berated some local media for wrongly vilifying the federal government and security agencies for their complicity in the Lekki shootings. Speaking to our correspondent, a senior advocate, Abdul Balogun, commended the panel for a job well done, while expressing disappointment at the minister’s statement.
According to him, if the government means well, the recommendations of the panel should be implemented to the letter, stating that ‘’it is a shame that the information minister can still come out to defend the false narrative the government wanted the world to believe about the incident in Lekki.” ‘’I think the honourable thing to do is for the minister to apologise to Nigerians and the entire world over the shootings in Lekki.’’ Also, a constitutional lawyer, Bello M. Gafar, accused the government of a cover-up during the shooting last year. According to him, what the government tried to coverup has been made public for everyone to see. He called on the federal government to apologise to the families of those killed and wounded during the Lekki shootings. Gafar added that ‘’the incident clearly shows who we are to the rest of the world. It shows that we don’t value human lives in this part of the world. It does not sound nice to the ears that a government, whose primary responsibility it is to protect the lives of its citizens, is the one killing them.
‘’This can’t be excused, there must be punishment for this action and someone must take responsibility for it.’’ Also reacting, another lawyer, Nkem Okon, said until the country learnt to make those in government take responsibility for their actions, it would continue to go round in circles. Okon said it would not be a surprise if the country found itself in the same kind of situation next time because nobody was made to pay for the massacre. Similarly, the Executive Director of Hope Behind Bars Africa, Funke Adeoye, a lawyer, said that the denial by the minister was long expected as the federal government had shown over the years that it did not have the interest of citizens at heart.
She said, “The minister of information’s response has been anticipated since the report was released and it took him over a week to prove to Nigerians that the government cares less about the lives of its citizens. “Section 14(B) of the 1999 Constitution as amended states that the security and welfare of the citizens shall be the primary purpose of the government. Unfortunately, the minister’s denial of the veracity of the report, in the midst of verifiable evidence, has once again shown the government’s stance with respect to the lives of its citizens.
“Now is not the time to get distracted over a statement that we all saw coming. It is our hope that the anticipated white paper will confirm the accuracy of the report and we must prepare to hold the government accountable to act timorously on the recommendations of the panel.” Former spokesman for former President Goodluck Jonathan, Mr. Reno Omokri, described Lai Mohammed as the fly that follows the corpse into the grave, following his repeated denial of the #EndSARS massacre. He said, “I watched Lai Mohammed’s press conference where he tried to punch holes in the Lagos #EndSARS panel’s report. Before I destroy the seven grounds raised by Lai Mohammed in his futile attempt to cast aspersions on the courageous work by the panel, let me first state that he is the fly that follows the corpse into the grave. “Even Buhari could not deny the Lagos #EndSARS panel’s report in his meeting with the United States Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on November 18.”
Another civil society body, HURIWA in its reaction, stated emphatically that the #LekkiMassacre occurred and #BuhariForPrison2023 must happen. “Lai Mohammed said the Lagos #EndSARS panel report is fake news because the panel said it found bullets and bloodstains even after saying the army and police cleaned up afterwards. “Didn’t Lai’s colleague, Raji Fashola, also find a camera even days after the clean- up? The fact remains that the military and the police attempted their shoddy clean- up at night, and could therefore not have cleared everything. They left traces of their massacre, which were found in the subsequent hours and days. “Lai Mohammed quoted a so-called ballistic expert that favoured the Buhari junta.
He, however, failed to address the fact that bullet casings of ammunition that are only available-e to the Nigerian Army were found at the scene of the #LekkiMassacre. How did they get there in such a number that even passersby were able to pick them up? “Lai Mohammed then quoted so-called forensic evidence that claimed only three corpses were from the #LekkiMassacre and said that that contradicted another area that said nine persons died. “Lai failed to mention that the forensic expert did not examine all the bodies.
But even at that, Lai just unwittingly admitted that there were three bodies from the massacre. He had previously said there were no such deaths,” HURIWA said in a statement. Addressing the media on Tuesday in Abuja, the minister accused the CNN of rushing to vindicate itself by broadcasting the Lagos panel’s report on the Lekki shooting, describing it as fake. The minister said the report was fake and riddled with so many errors, and as such could not be relied upon because of its doubtful authenticity. “CNN apparently didn’t even read the report before rolling out the drums in celebration. By that action, CNN has celebrated prematurely and has now committed a double faux pas; first, by relying on unverified social media stories and videos to carry out an investigation of the October 20, 2020 incident at Lekki, where it did not have a correspondent on ground.
“CNN goofed in its report on the findings of the panel, which fell below the main standards of journalism. Secondly, CNN rushed to the air to celebrate an unsigned and unverified report that is riddled with inconsistencies, errors, discrepancies and innuendoes. “That’s double faux pas by a news organisation that is eager and willing to compromise standards just to claim vindication,’’ he said. The minister had this to say about sections of the local media which he said also joined the lynch mob. “Honestly, in an attempt to vilify the government at all costs, they have done themselves a great disservice.
“How can any news organisation worth its salt write an editorial validating this kind of report? Are they not seeing what others, including journalists and lawyers are seeing? “In a shocking twist, a Nigerian newspaper chose to hail what it calls a detailed investigative report by CNN, even when the news channel did not even cover the incident of October 20 2020. It’s a classic case of cutting your nose to spite your face,’’ he said. Mohammed reiterated that there was nothing in the report in circulation that would make the government change its stand that there was no massacre at Lekki on October 20, 2020.