#EndSARS Report: Let’s Restrain from Nullifying Intentions of Setting up the Panel, Says LASG

Following the uproar that has trailed findings in its #EndSARS panel report since it was leaked on Monday, the Lagos State Government has called for restraint.

The Lagos State Commission for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, made this call in a statement yesterday.

The judicial panel led by Justice Doris Okuwobi (rtd) had submitted a 309-page report to the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, which indicted the army, police, and the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) for various crimes, ranging from killing innocent protesters to trying to conceal evidence.

The federal and Lagos State governments had at various times maintained that there were no deaths at the Lekki tollgate, effectively absolving themselves of any blames in the October 20, 2020 incident.

However, the panel of inquiry found out that 48 casualties were recorded at the tollgate, including 11 deaths, several missing persons, and many injured persons. It said 96 other corpses were presented to it by a Forensic Pathologist, Professor John Obafunwa. And this has continued to generate interest within and outside the country, with the United Nations (UN) and the United States (U.S.), among others calling on both the federal and Lagos State governments to ensure the implementation of the White Paper on the report.

But Omotoso in the first official statement of the government after the report was leaked, noted the various reactions that had trailed lowed the submission of the report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters.

It added: “The Lagos State Government has noted the various reactions that have followed the submission of the report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters. “There have been arguments in the public space over the report. There is need for us to restrain ourselves from nullifying the good intentions of the government in setting up this Panel, which was well encouraged to do its job – a fact that was acknowledged by the panel.

“In accordance with the Tribunal of Inquiry Law 2015, a committee has been set up to bring up a White Paper on the report to determine the next line of action. At the appropriate time, the government will make known its views on all the issues raised by the panel through the release of a White Paper.