*Faults judicial panel report
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Mr Abiodun Owonikoko, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and counsel for the Lagos State government during the yearlong sitting of the Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution for Victims of SARS-related Abuses, on Thursday faulted the Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel report.
Owonikoko said it was wrong for the panel to have awarded compensation to the victims of military shootings on the night of 20 October 2020 during the EndSars protest at the Lekki tollgate and forgotten about the policemen who also lost their lives.
The lawyer expressed his views on the panel report in a feature on The Morning Show, a daily programme of Arise Television.
He said he had issues with a member of the panel, Mr Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa (SAN), who he said was consistently absent during Saturday sittings on the Lekki incident.
“This same gentleman [Olu-Adegboruwa] had no legal or moral right to sign the report but he did,” Owonikoko said.
The Lagos counsel further said there was no place in the report that mention was made of an attempt to attack a traditional ruler and raze down Oriental Hotel at Lekki by hoodlums during the protest.
Owonikoko said the panel did not call the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) to tender its evidence – which he said was “major”.
He also said some of the protesters reported dead and which the panel awarded compensation of between N10 – N15m had come out to say they are alive.
While accusing the panel of bribery, the SAN said, “A victim was awarded N10 million and the first question she was asked was whether she wanted compensation she said no, but that she came on behalf of those who had cases to be assisted.
“In the report, the panel awarded her N10 million for trauma. There is a case of a woman before that panel that was awarded N10 million for an injury. She later claimed to have given part of the money to some members of the panel.
“The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) waded into the matter and it was not allowed to go into the public domain. Some victims who were said to be EndSARS victims that never testified were awarded N10 million or N15 million in compensation. I cannot take that report as authentic.
“The only people that you should compensate are those that appeared before the panel. Anything in that report as of now is not admissible before the law if they are to be sued for libel their evidence cannot be admissible in court.
The lawyer also faulted the composition of the membership of the panel, stressing that some of them were not qualified to be members.
He said, “There are almost 40 material discrepancies in that report, including awarding financial compensations to people who were claimed to have died, who never died. They later came out to say that they did not die. How would you make that kind of mistake to award millions of naira to somebody, claiming that he has died? He was even a witness and in the report, they awarded him N15 million. What kind of report is that? The report is not good for Nigeria.
While making a case for the police he said, “How do you want those agencies that are neglected to feel in spite of the huge losses that they suffered? Unfortunately, this report didn’t take them into consideration? The police lost billions.
“I know of a particular man, 24 years old son of a police officer who was murdered before his mother. His mother came with a petition and his case was not mentioned in the report. No mention was made of any of the police victims that came to testify,” Owonikoko said.
In the report submitted on Monday, the judicial panel said the atrocious maiming and killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting EndSars protesters, while sitting on the floor, waving the Nigerian flags, and singing the National Anthem can be equated to a “massacre”.
The panel found 11 protesters were killed by the security forces while over 40 were injured – contrary to claims by the army and the Lagos government that protesters were killed.
The army had claimed soldiers deployed to the Lekki tollgate only shot blank bullets into the air and operated within the rules of engagement. But the judicial panel report confirmed that officers and soldiers of 65 Battalion of the Nigerian Army, led by Lt Col Bello, left their base with blank and live ammunitions to confront and disperse youths holding only their national flags, with live bullets.
“The soldiers actually shot blank and live bullets directly and pointedly into the midst of the protesters at the Lekki tollgate, with the deliberate intention to assault, maim and kill.
“The soldiers turned back ambulances that were invited to render first aid and assistance to the wounded protesters,” the report read.
The judicial panel stated ways in which the security forces and government agencies attempted to cover up the killings – including soldiers picking up bullet shells on the night of 20 October and policemen following up in the morning of 21 October to pick bullet shells.
Several unidentified bodies were reportedly removed by security agencies and Lagos State Environmental Health Monitoring Unit (LASEHMU) and deposited at various hospital mortuaries in Lagos State.
Also, three trucks with brushes underneath were reportedly brought to the Lekki tollgate in the morning after the shootings to clean up bloodstains and other evidence.
In separate reactions, the United States, the United Nations, and human rights groups have welcomed the judicial panel’s report and recommendations while urging government actions against those found to be involved in the Lekki massacre.
Although the Lagos government has yet to react to the judicial panel’s report, a White Paper is expected to be released in the coming days.
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