Following the October 20 breakdown of law and order as anti-police brutality protest led to confrontation at the LEKKI Toll Plaza, in Lagos, the state government and rights groups promised to ensure justice. A year after, Nigerians are still waiting.
Among the most-looked-forward-to reports are that of the enquiry the state government initiated and that of Lagos Lawyer Femi Falana, under the aegis of ASCAB.
Lagos Judicial Panel of Enquiry:
The world was alarmed at reports on social media and mainstream news organisation that reported the shooting and arson and killings that erupted after a breach of curfew Lagos Gov Babjide Sanwo-Olu declared to disperse the ENDSARS protesters that converged for days at the toll plaza.
The state government had to set up a panel of enquiry to plumb the depth of the remote and immediate causes of the incident.
Headed by Justice Okuwobi, the panel comprised nine members, including representatives from civil society organisations, the Endsars movement, and others.
After about a year—from the initial six-month timeline—of sitting through petition and awarding compensation, the panel submitted its report October 18. It awarded N410 million to 70 petitioners out of 235 petitions victims of Lagos police brutality submitted.
Beyond compensation for broad police brutality, the Lekki shooting is one main mandate of the panel that interests most Nigerians.
It’s not clear how long they may wait before knowing the truth about the October 20 incident.
Alliance for Survival of Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), a coalition of 80 CSOs that Femi Falana, a SAN and rights activist, founded also promised to investigate and unearth the truth of the Lekki massacre and its perpetrators.
ASCAB constituted its own seven-man panel in November, mandated it to investigate the Lekki incident and other instances of police brutality across Nigeria. It was a welcome decision, considering how a lot of Nigerians have no trust in government institutions or panels.
The group, headed by Chino Obiagwu (SAN) the panel was expected to run not as a counter-point to the Lagos panel, and it had a month to conclude its investigation.
The last Nigerians heard of the ASCAB’s “Citizen Tribunal” was December. The founder said Nigerians were afraid to come out. And when the Lagos panel asked state mortuaries to open up for investigation, Falana said 70 corpses of those killed during the ENDSARS protest were yet to be claimed by relatives.
Over 10 months now, the panel has yet to make public its findings.
The federal government has sustained its claim the Lekki massacre was a social media creation which Amnesty International, CNN, Endsars lawyers like Falana and others mainstreamed.
Nigerians now await ASCAB evidence to prove the Lekki massacre happened.