The Lagos State judicial panel of inquiry into police brutality and the Lekki tollgate shooting of October 20, 2020, is unhappy with the Lagos State Government for faulting its report in its White Paper.

The panel says the errors the state government is latching on to discredit parts of the report were in fact computer glitches. The panel had submitted that the Lekki shooting, where soldiers and police officers shot into a crowd of unarmed, peaceful protesters, could be termed a “massacre in context.”

The Lagos state government disagrees however, saying the submission of the panel that nine persons died, is “irreconcilable” with the testimony of John Obafunwa, a pathologist. The Lagos State Government and its talking heads continue to point at discrepancies in the panel’s report and the duplication of the names of casualties.

In a white paper on the report, the Lagos government accepted 11 out of the 32 recommendations of the panel, rejected one and accepted six with modifications. Responding to the Lagos government’s position in a statement, the panel said the state could have reached out to members for clarifications, rather than cherry-pick its report.

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Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has invited stakeholders and activists to a peace walk in a bid to lower the temperature heightened by the events of October 2020.

The Lagos State Government has called for restraint over the report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters.

On Monday, the Panel submitted its report to the Lagos State Government. However, a leaked version of the report indicting the state government and the Nigerian Army was released on the Internet.

Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has set up a committee to review the panel’s report, which is yet to be released officially.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, said the state government has recognised the various reactions that have trailed the report.

There have been arguments in the public space over the report. There is a 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

The Inspector General of Police (I-G), Mr Usman Baba, has assured that there was no plan to reinstate the disbanded Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) into the Nigeria Police.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), Mr Frank Mba, disclosed this in a statement, on Thursday, in Abuja.
Mba said the clarification followed reports making the rounds both online and offline that the IGP had ordered the re-instatement of the disbanded SARS.

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He said that the Nigeria Police had re-organised the operational structure of the squad to fill the vacuum created by its disbandment, as the leadership of the Force remained focused on efforts at deepening reforms within the Force.
Mba said the idea was to bequeath Nigerians, a Police Force that would be more effective, efficient, technology-driven, humane and rule of law compliant.
The FPRO urged the public to disregard the report, saying that it was deliberately intended to misinform the public.

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