The group under the leadership of Lagos lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has undertaken the task of independently probing the October 21 Lekki Toll Gate shooting, and will submit its finding and recommendations to Lagos state and the federal government.
The Alliance on Surviving COVID-19 And Beyond, a coalition of over 80 civil society organisations and organised labour, made the announcement on Monday, two weeks after soldiers on invitation Gov. Babajide Sanwo Olu opened fire on ENDSARS protesters.
There have been series of reports, especially by Amnesty International claiming 12 people were killed, while media reports had different figures.
The state government, following the uproar and chaos that followed, mandated a panel originally set up to look into complaint about the disbanded police unit SARS, to investigate the Lekki shooting too.
But the panel hasn’t received any petition with respect to the Lekki incident, and critics like Falan said the victims were conscious of the environment.
This could have led to the decision of the Falana group to independently investigate the matter. Perhaps the vici might be encouraged to come forward with evidence.
The coalition said its seven-man panel has one month to complete its assignment, will be open to all Nigerians without restrictions, adding that the Nigerian people will own the process.
Other members of the panel are Affiong Affiong (Secretary), Prof Adenike Ogushe and Mr Y.Z Yau, former President, Committee for the Defense of Human Rights, Mr Malachy Ugwumadu and two representatives of the youth, Miss Fatima Umar and Mr Olumide Ogele.
The statement reads, “The independent inquiry is not to counter the panels set up by the tiers of government but to complement and enrich the democratic space. It is a challenge to those already set up by the government to ensure a transparent approach to all enquiries and to put first the public interests.
“Since Section 24 (e) of the constitution has imposed a duty on every citizen to ‘render assistance to appropriate and lawful agencies in the maintenance of law and order,’ the report of our investigation will be made available to the relevant law enforcement authorities with a view to prosecuting indicted suspects in the appropriate courts.”
It noted that if any of the Attorneys-General does not accede to ASCAB requests to prosecute indicted suspects, the report of the investigation would form the basis of the application for the right of private prosecution under the applicable Administration of Criminal Justice Law.
“Without prejudice to the prosecution of indicted suspects, we shall approach the high court in each state where citizens were killed with a view to securing the enforcement of the fundamental right of the deceased to life in accordance with Paragraph (e) of the Preamble to the Fundamental Rights Enforcement Procedure Rules 2009 which states that ‘human rights activists, advocates, or groups as well as any non-governmental organisations, may institute human rights application on behalf of any potential applicant,’” ASCAB added.