Lekki Massacre: Sanwo-Olu Plans Mass Burial For 103 Protesters Massacred During EndSARS, After Several Denial

The governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has approved the mass burial of at least 103 protestors who were slain by joint Nigerian Army and police forces during the #EndSARS major protest against police brutality in October 2020.

The state government hired Messrs Tos Funeral Ltd, a private firm, to bury 103 remains identified as victims of the killings, according to a document reviewed by Anaedoonline.ng and dated July 19 by the public procurement agency.

“Following review of your request and based on the information provided therein, the agency has “No Objection” to the award of contract to MESSRS TOS FUNERALS LIMITED at a total cost of N61,285,000 (Sixty-one million, two hundred and eighty-five thousand Naira only) for the mass burial for the 103, the year 2020 Endsars victims,” the letter read.

LATEST: Lekki Tollgate Incident Was A ‘Massacre’ – Lagos ENDSARS Panel Indict Nigerian Army, Police

This action comes nearly three years after Mr Sanwo-Olu and his government colleagues flatly denied the brutal killing of unarmed protesters waving the Nigerian flag and chanting the national anthem at the Lekki toll gate on the night of October 20, 2020.

When Mr Sanwo-Olu’s press secretary, Gboyega Akosile, was asked how this latest step relates to the state government’s previous denials, he laughed and simply assured The Gazette that “the government will release its response soon.”

The decision also comes after the Lagos state administration ignored a demand for the identification of missing persons due to various instances of intimidation and harassment meted out to individuals who appeared before the panel of inquiry to make claims that implicated the government.

Mr Sanwo-Olu produced a white paper in which he reiterated his rejection of the findings of the Lagos State judicial panel of investigation, which called the occurrence a massacre. The court panel decided that nothing could justify the war-like brutality unleashed on nonviolent protesters, which resulted in the deaths of dozens.

Only White Paper Report Can Reveal What Happened At Lekki Tollgate – CDS Irabor

While Mr Sanwo-Olu and his government continue to maintain their denial as the official version of events, a large amount of evidence and a number of government decisions, such as the appointment of former Army chief Turkur Buratai as a diplomatic envoy to the Benin Republic, which many believed was done to protect him from prosecution by the International Criminal Court, confirmed the incident and demonstrated that the government was aware that there was sufficient evidence to prosecute him.

The judicial panel agreed that the casualties of the incident were exacerbated since the army refused to allow ambulances and medical assistance to reach injured demonstrators in need. The soldiers also stolethe corpse of the protesters and wiped blood stains off the scene to hide evidence of its crime and hinder the investigation of the panel.

Professor John Obafunwa, chief pathologist at Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), testified before the panel of inquiry that at least 99 bodies from the EndSars protests were deposited in morgues across Lagos, with several of them carrying bullet wounds, some blunt trauma, and some bruises. Three of the 99 bodies that were verified to be those of demonstrators were successfully traced back to the toll gate.

#EndSARS: Don’t Come Out To Protest On Tuesday – Sanwo-Olu To Lagos Protesters

A CNN video investigation complemented various footage recorded during the incident and established that troops from the Nigerian Army and police shot directly at demonstrators with live bullets. Mr. Sanwo-Olu has urged citizens to “snap out of the incident” and rebuild better, but families who lost their loved ones in the incident struggle to find closure in the face of the government’s suppression of the truth.

Follow us on Facebook