LAGOS- The coalition of #EndSARS protesters and supporters, yesterday, accused Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State of misinforming the public on the mass burial for EndSARS protesters, insisting that the state government was insincere about the killings that occurred at the Lekki Toll Gate in October 2020.
In a statement by the Coalition of #EndSARS Frontliners, the group called for the suspension of the planned mass burial of 103 bodies immediately.
“The Coalition of #EndSARS Protesters and Supporters, national and globally, are horrified by the planned mass burial of 103 protesters and civilians, who tragically lost their lives in the October 2020 state-sponsored violence and murder at the Lekki Toll Gate, and the callous and insincere statement by the Lagos State Government in response to the leaked memo approving the contract for the mass burial.
“The Babajide Sanwo-Olu-led Lagos State Government continues to misinform the global community in an attempt to manipulate public perception and evade justice and accountability.
“Between October 21 and 23, 2020, Sanwo-Olu contradicted himself three times. First, he said, ‘Nobody died at Lekki Toll Gate’; the next day, ‘One person died and it was from blunt trauma to the head;’ and on the 3rd day, he said, ‘Two deaths have now been confirmed among the protesters in Lekki’.
“#EndSARS protesters and investigative journalists are convinced that many people died at Lekki Toll Gate. The report of the Judicial Panel set up by Mr. Sanwo-Olu, established there was a massacre at Lekki Toll Gate, and pages 297 and 298 of the report named nine people that were killed, with four more missing, but presumed dead.
Therefore, to state that no one died at Lekki Toll Gate or that only two persons were confirmed dead is a wicked and brazen lie.
“In addition, the panel found that the Lagos State Government, the Nigerian military and the police were culpable in the massacre of peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate. The report noted that the military and the police shot at peaceful protesters on October 20, 2020, at the Lekki Toll Gate. The military, on the invitation of the Lagos State Governor, Mr Sanwo-Olu, took away the bodies and corpses of the dead protesters in their vans, in an attempt to cover up and clean up the crime scene”, the group stated.
The group, however, insisted that “The government must stop using deceitful tactics and face the reality that their actions led to the death of defenceless Nigerians.
“We demand the Lagos State government suspend the planned mass burial of 103 bodies in TOS Funeral Services immediately. It should implement the recommendations of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry’s White Paper. It should also establish a one-month notice for citizens to access the 103 bodies, in the hopes of identifying their loved ones.
“The state government must conduct a DNA mapping of all 103 bodies using a reputable private organisation. It should pay compensation and provide therapy for the trauma they have caused families over the last three years.
“As #EndSARS protesters worldwide, we will not be silenced or deterred by the government’s failed attempts to discredit our actions. We will not rest and will continue to peacefully protest until justice prevails.”
