Amnesty International reacts to Lai Muhammed denial of Lekki tollgate incidents

Amnesty International on Tuesday stated that it was not surprised by the government’s denial of the Lekki Tollgate incident.

The Country Director, Amnesty International, Nigeria, Osai Ojigho revealed this while reacting to the Federal Government’s comment on the Lagos #EndSARS probe panel report on a Channels TV programme.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

The director, who faulted the manner the government dismissed the report, urged the Federal Government to verify the evidence provided by it.

Amnesty International also called for investigation into the entire #EndSARS protests across the country and not the Lekki Tollgate incident alone.

She said, “I think the first thing is for us to establish the fact that there are different layers of government. So what has been presented to the Lagos State Government, as we all know, is easy for the governments to communicate with themselves across board.

“I think the minister, with his position in government, should liaise with the state authorities to clarify or check information with regards to the panel’s work.

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“That would have been an ideal step; and to allow the state government to carry out its task in this regard. It is not surprising for us at Amnesty International that the minister, Lai Mohammed, continues to deny that unfortunate incident that happened on October 20, 2020, at the Lekki Tollgate.

“We have seen in the last one year the constant attacks, the constant narrative that is geared toward gas-lighting the victims, survivors and witnesses, and create an impression that people are just up to no good.”

The Lagos State judicial panel had been queried by Federal Government over its report which claimed that family members of those killed during the EndSARS protest were afraid to speak.

This was made known on Tuesday by the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, wondering who would be compensated since the families of allegedly killed EndSARS protesters failed to appear due to fear.

He had called on the Judicial Panel to convince anyone that the names of some casualties of the Lekki Toll Gate incident listed as numbers; 3 (Jide), 42 (Tola) and 43 (Wisdom) were not fictitious names.