Foundation for Environmental Rights Advocacy and Development (FENRAD), a pro-democracy, human and environmental rights advocacy group, has reacted to the report submitted by the Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry which highlighted the role of the Nigeria Army and Police in the killing of #EndSARS protesters.

Recall that the Nigerian government, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the Army and Police, at separate times, had insisted no one was killed in the attack on protesters at the Lekki Tollgate.

But the panel led by Justice Doris Okuwobi, in its report submitted to Lagos state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Monday, disclosed that, at least, 48 protesters were either shot dead, injured with bullet wounds, or assaulted by soldiers who were at the Lekki Toll gate on October 20, 2020.

Reacting to the report, FENRAD demanded for restorative justice and restitution for victims of the massacre.

The group while cautioning the Nigerian government and the Lagos government not to allow justice end on paper, also called for the prosecutorial trials of all those indicted by the reports.

FENRAD, while commending the Doris Okuwobi-led panel for not only producing a report the international community and the US welcomed, but one not tainted by politics and its nuances, however called for the full implementation of the report.

The group urged the Federal government and Lagos State to act accordingly to the law.

“Having read in full, the recently leaked Lagos State EndSARS panel report known formerly and officially as Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS-Related Abuses and Other Maters or Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry, for short, draws the attention of both the federal and Lagos State governments to the need now towards ensuring that justice is properly dispensed to the letter.

“While the said reports, from page to page, paint a gory, heart-rending picture of the ignoble action of state actors – the Nigeria Army, as led then by Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai (rtd) and the Nigeria Police led by former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, perpetrated against innocent and unarmed youthful citizens whose only crime was interrogating a system that has failed for years.

“FENRAD, beyond all of this, is more interested in the aftermath of the protests and reports, demanding restorative justice and restitution for victims of that ugly period in our history and as well prosecutorial trials of all those, like Lt. Col Bello and others, indicted by the same reports.

“Meanwhile, FENRAD wishes to commend laudably, the Doris Okuwobi-led panel, for not only producing a report the international community and the US welcome, but one not tainted by politics and its nuances.

“However, the 309-paged reports, according to FENRAD, must not end on any shelf like many before it, its findings and recommendations thereof must see full implementation so that the souls of the eleven youths massacred, the four persons that disappeared and all the brutally wounded victims get commensurate justice.

“Now that the State Government (in this case Lagos) is looking to set up a “committee” whose mandate is to produce a white paper from the reports, FENRAD wishes to remind the state government, its Commissioner for Justice or whoever that may likely head the so-called committee not to do anything that may obstruct justice.

“FENRAD is aware that the state government cannot be a judge in its own case and must act within and according to law. The white paper, when finally out, must beget action and justice,” FENRAD said in a statement jointly signed by its Executive Director, Nelson Nnanna Nwafor and Barr. Akande Femisi, Head Corporate Accountability and Human Rights Enforcement.

Meanwhile, the group has asked Abia State Government to follow suit by making its reports public so as to allow public scrutiny and access.

“Abia, as FENRAD knows, was among the twenty-nine states that instituted a panel of inquiry into police and other sister security agencies’ brutality, with specific terms of reference, covering the period from 2015 to 2020. While the panel has submitted its reports, nothing has been heard from the state government, especially after the panel recommended the sum of N511 million as recompense to all victims of police and SARS brutality.

“Like FENRAD wishes for Lagos State, all the persons named and indicted must be brought to justice in Abia State. This, itself, more than any monetary numbers to be awarded, is the best form of justice that cleanses the land,” FENRAD stated.

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