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#EndSARS Report: Address Abuses, Grievances, US, UN Tell FG …As SERAP Demands Prosecution Of Offenders
United Nations and the United States, yesterday, welcomed the submission of the #EndSARS report, and urged governments’ commitment to implementing the Lagos judicial panel’s recommendations.
In a statement made available to journalists, yesterday, signed by the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon, said that, the United Nations in Nigeria has welcomed the submission on Monday, November 15, 2021, of the report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution.
According to the statement, “I welcome the submission to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, of the reports of the judicial panel on claims of brutality and shooting in the Lekki area of Lagos State, during the 2020 #EndSARS protests”.
Kallon noted that the submission of the findings of the judicial panel would accelerate the process of justice and accountability.
“I urge the government to implement the recommendations of the judicial panel of inquiry to rebuild trust and start the process of healing and reconciliation”, Kallon added.
In its statement, the United States Government said it also welcomed the conclusion of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry with the transmission of its final report.
“We look forward to the Lagos State Government’s response as part of a process that represents an important mechanism of accountability regarding the #EndSARS protests and the events that took place near the Lekki Tollgate on October 20, 2020.
“Those events led to serious allegations against some members of the security forces, and we look forward to the Lagos State and federal governments taking suitable measures to address those alleged abuses as well as the grievances of the victims and their families.
Similarly, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) threatened to institute legal action against President Muhammadu Buhari government.
SERAP said it was suing Buhari to compel the arrest of soldiers and police officers involved in shooting #EndSARS protesters at Lekki Tollgate in Lagos State.
In a series of tweets, the body urged the Buhari government to compel payment of reparation to victims.
Disclosing that it would file the suit on Wednesday, SERAP said the #EndSARS Panel report would serve as part of its evidence.
According to SERAP: “BREAKING: We’re suing the Buhari administration to compel it to immediately arrest the soldiers and police responsible for the shooting of #EndSARS protesters at Lekki Tollgate and pay reparations to victims.
“Please, indicate your interest to join the suit by stating your names.
“We’re filing the suit first thing tomorrow morning; so please indicate your interest
“We’re also following up with our petition dated October 21, 2020 to the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court by forwarding today a copy of the report of Lagos #EndSARS Panel as additional information and evidence.”
In June 2020, soldiers and police officers had shot some #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos State.
The incident had led to a widespread protest across the country.
A panel was later set up to probe the incident and it submitted its report, last Monday.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has been asked to sack the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed immediately.
The call came following the report of the Panel of Investigation set by the Lagos State Government to unravel the incidents of October 20, 2020, at the popular Lekki Tollgate, Lagos State.
The report released during the week had indicted the police and soldiers of the Nigerian Army of having killed and maimed harmless youths protesting illicit police activities and bad governance in Nigeria.
But Mohammed, in a series of press conferences, has continually denied anyone was killed when soldiers invaded the protest scene.
Despite the Federal Government’s stance, the report shows obvious evidence that there was indeed a massacre at the Lekki tollgate.
The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) advocated his dismissal, arrest, and trial for his egregious falsehood which has now been contradicted by a judicial panel of investigators in Lagos.
HURIWA made the demand in a statement against the backdrops of the issuance of a conclusive judicial report and verdict by the Lagos State Judicial Panel of investigations.
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 6million 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.”
The rights group has asked the president not to sweep the lawlessness of the security agencies under the carpets just as it said if the president allows his information minister to get away with the impunity of denying the massacre that happened before the eyes of the world captured live on video cameras, then he will be remembered long after he has retired from public office as a dictator who oversaw the genocide of young protesters and the generations unborn will never forgive him for this.
“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.
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.
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