Femi Ashekun/
The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters, has revealed that at least nine persons were killed on the night of October 20, 2020, at the Lekki Toll Gate during the #EndSARS protest against police brutality.
This was contained in a report submitted by the panel to the Lagos State Government yesterday.
The panel, instituted by the Lagos State Government, was led by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi. The report listed 48 protesters as either shot dead, or suffered bullet wounds at the Lekki Toll Gate; while others were assaulted by soldiers and policemen.
Specifically, the findings of the report showed that nine protesters lost their lives; while others, who are still missing at the time of submitting the report, are presumed dead.
The panel identified those confirmed killed during the incident as Victor Sunday Ibanga, Abuta Solomon, Jide, Olalekan Abideen Ashafa, Olamilekan Ajasa, Kolade Salami, Folorunsho Olabisi, Kenechukwu Ugoh, and Nathaniel Solomon.
Also, the panel’s report listed the following four missing persons: Abiodun Adesanya, Ifeanyi Nicholas Eji, Tola, and Wisdom, as presumed dead. The four have been missing since the night of the October 20, 2020 incident.
Additionally, the panel found that 96 other corpses were presented by a forensic pathologist; Prof. John Obafunwa, at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital.
However, the panel said many of the corpses were unidentified but labeled with EndSARS; stating that this did not obliterate the fact that some of them could have come from the Lekki Toll Gate incident; or that some other unidentified corpses may have been removed by their families or the military; as claimed by the EndSARS protesters, far and beyond the list tendered by Obafunwa.
Notably, the report found that the soldiers deployed to the Lekki Toll Gate to enforce a curfew declared by the Lagos State Government and policemen who came after them; shot and killed a number of unarmed protesters.
Equally important, the findings of the report declared the incident at the scene a massacre; in agreement with the views held by many Nigerians.
“The atrocious maiming and killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters, while sitting on the floor and waving their Nigerian flags, while singing the National Anthem can be equated to a massacre in context.
“It was alleged and corroborated that the soldiers had their vans parked at the Lekki tollgate and removed as many bodies and corpses of the fallen protesters, which they took away with their vans.”
It stated that the panel relied on the testimony of medical personnel; including Dr. Babajide Lawson of Reddington Hospital and Dr. Aromolate Ayobami of Grandville Trauma Centre; who attended to some of the injured victims. Both confirmed that the injuries were caused by ‘‘gunshot wounds, which were high velocity ‘entry and exit’; all indicate injuries from military weapons; consistent with the bullet shells recovered by the panel during its visit and the witnesses that testified before the panel’’.
Further, the report disclosed that the panel relied on the testimony and report of Prof. Obafunwa; which showed that three corpses were deposited at the Mainland Hospital, Yaba Hospital; all from the Lekki Tollgate; with the autopsy conducted on the corpses revealing death from bleeding caused by penetrating objects or rifled weapon.
The panel had equally made a total of 32 recommendations to the Lagos State and Federal Governments in its report, including sanctioning of security agents who took part in the shooting, apologizing to the youths for the atrocities committed against them at the tollgate, compensating victims, among others.
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