EndSARS Panel report: Sack Lai Mohammed now– HURIWA tells Buhari

Rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Minister of information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed over his continued denial of the casualties in the October 20, 2020 Lekki Toll gate shooting of peaceful protesters by Nigerian troops in Lagos.

The call by the human rights group followed Monday’s release of the report by the Panel of Investigation set by the Lagos State Government to unravel the incidents of October 20, 2020, at the popular Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos State.

The report indicted the police and soldiers of the Nigerian Army of the killing and injuring of protesters who had converged on the Lekki Toll Gate during the EndSARS protests across the country which had demanded an end to brutality of the police special anti-robbery squad.

The panel listed 48 names as casualties of the incident.

According to the report, 9 protesters were confirmed dead, while four were presumed dead, even as about 20 sustained gunshot injuries, while 13 others were assaulted by the military.

The report listed the following persons as dead; Victor Sunday Ibanga, Abuta Solomon, Jide, Olalekan Abideen Ashafa, Olamilekan Ajasa, Kolade Salami, Folorunsho Olabisi, Kenechukwu Ugoh and Nathaniel Solomon.

While, others like; Abiodun Adesanya, Ifeanyi Nicholas Eji, Tola and Wisdom were listed as ‘presumed dead.’

However, despite evidence pointing to the use of live ammunition by soldiers on the protesters as provided by witnesses, including the United States media network, CNN, the Nigerian minister continued to insist that there was no casualty.

HURIWA, in a media statement made against the backdrops of the issuance of a conclusive judicial report and verdict by the Lagos State Judicial Panel of investigations, Tuesday, has now called on President Buhari to sack the minister.

The 309-page report detailed how the Army and Police disregarded their rules of engagement during the protest.

HURIWA recalled that Mohammed also faulted the claim by Amnesty International that no fewer than 12 protesters were killed in Lagos State by security operatives during the EndSARS protest.

“HURIWA is asking President Muhammadu Buhari as a biological father of many well-educated children, to order the arrest and prosecution of his minister of information Lai Mohammed for committing a grave and heartless offence that is equivalent to the denial of the Holocaust of the 6 million Jews by Adolf Hitler which is punishable by nearly half a century of incarceration.

“HURIWA is also commending the brave members and Chairperson of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on the #ENDSARS PROTESTS especially the circumstances surrounding the massive cases of extrajudicial killings by the Army and armed police when these armed forces opened fire with lethal weapons targeted at the unarmed protesters.

“President Muhammadu Buhari must note that as a Father of many Children he needs to ensure that impunity is never tolerated especially the extrajudicial killings of very youngsters of Nigeria by the Army just for protesting police Brutality”, HURIWA affirmed.

Meanwhile, human rights watchdog, the Amnesty International has also reacted to the report released by the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and other matters.

It wrote: “An on-the-ground investigation by Amnesty International has confirmed that the Nigerian army and police killed peaceful protesters at Lekki Toll Gate on 20 October 2020s #EndSARS“

It would be recalled that on the occasion of the first year anniversary of the famous #EndSARS protests in Nigeria, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed had demanded apologies from CNN, Amnesty International, and DJ Switch.

According to the Minister who spoke during a press conference in Abuja, CNN, Amnesty, and DJ Switch were all guilty of spreading fake news.

Mohammed maintained that there was no massacre of Nigerian youths at the Lekki Toll Gate incident during the protest last year and the trio mentioned only gave false and misleading reports.

The Minister insisted a professional analysis of what transpired at the Lekki Toll Gate revealed that the military didn’t massacre anyone while if truly there was any killing as widely reported, the families of the victims and those affected would have appeared with evidence before the Judicial Panel of Inquiry.

Not done, Lai Mohammed further accused the trio of spreading ‘tales by moonlight’ about what he described as the phantom killings at the Lekki Toll Gate during the EndSARS protests last year.