Lagos lawyer, Mr Femi Falana, has said that government lawyers who are trying to dispute the report of the panel on EndSARS, particularly the Lekki shooting, are “obviously weeping more than the bereaved.
“In a lengthy op-ed on Monday night, Falana said lawyers to the state government at the panel, Jelili Owonikoko and Kayode Enitan, both senior advocates, have consistently spoken against the report, seeking to dwarf its relevance on the basis of alleged inaccuracies. He claimed the facts the lawyers were trying to dispute had long been acknowledged by the governor himself.
“The Lekki Concession Company Limited, an agency of the Lagos State Government which later disabled the CCTV camera at the Lekki Toll Gate which captured the tragic incident of the night in question, had issued a press statement to condemn the wanton killing of the protesters.
A copy of the press statement was tendered and admitted in evidence during the proceedings.
“In any case, the controversy surrounding the findings of the Commission is centred around the number of the protesters who were killed and not that the killings did not occur.
“But it is on record that a few hours after the incident, Governor Sanwo-Olu had disclosed that two people were killed at the Lekki Toll Gate. The disclosure was made after the governor had visited several injured people who were then receiving treatment in some hospitals.
“It is, therefore, crystal clear that those who are out to discredit the report are obviously weeping more than the bereaved.
“But no amount of campaign of calumny can impeach the solid credentials of members of the Judicial Commission.”
He, therefore, suggested that the Lagos State government was caught off-guard by the findings of the panel which investigated the shooting of protesters by soldiers and policemen at Lekki Toll Gate, October last year. The senior advocate, however, signalled that the state government would see through the implementation of the panel’s recommendations. (Tribune)