The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA, has demanded that criminal prosecution be instituted against individuals found to have committed the massacre that happened on October 20, 2020 at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos.
CAPPA made the call following the findings of the EndSARS Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution constituted by the Lagos government.
The panel, which sat for over a year, submitted its findings to the Lagos state government yesterday, Monday.
The report establishes the fact that Nigeria’s Army led by Lt. Col Bello was at Lekki Gate on October 20, 2020, and further described the event of that day as a “massacre in a context”.
Part of the recommendations of the panel included that all men of the Nigerian Army excluding Major General Omata that were deployed to the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020, be made to face appropriate disciplinary action and/or stripped of their status and dismissed.
It also recommended disciplinary actions be taken against Major General Godwin Umelo and Lt. Col S.O. Bello, who refused to honor the summons of the panel in order to frustrate the investigation.
The panel indicted Nigerian Army officers of having “shot, injured and killed unarmed helpless and defenceless protesters, without provocation or justification, while they were waving the Nigerian Flag and singing the national anthem and the manner of assault and killing could in context be described as a massacre.”
Denial
Reacting, CAPPA, in a statement by its Director of Programmes, Philip Jakpor, said: “Despite an abundance of evidence which includes testimonials and visuals, the Nigerian government continued to deny that protesters were shot and killed.
“Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, even went as far as describing the Lekki incident as a ‘phantom massacre’.”
It quoted CAPPA Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, as stating that “It is a sad testament for our nation that harmless protesters were mowed down this way while peacefully waving the national flag the military was established to protect.
“Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, even went as far as describing the Lekki incident as a ‘phantom massacre’.”
It quoted CAPPA Executive Director, Akinbode Oluwafemi, as stating that “It is a sad testament for our nation that harmless protesters were mowed down this way while peacefully waving the national flag the military was established to protect.
Source: Vanguard News Nigeria