#EndSARS: Lagos Panel Report Is ‘Tales By Moonlight’-Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has faulted the report of the panel set up by the Lagos State Government to probe police brutality and the shooting at the Lekki tollgate in October 2020 is riddled with discrepancies.

Mohammed spoke in Abuja on Tuesday, one week after the panel submitted its report to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

At the press conference, the Minister said the content of the report that the “killing of unarmed protesters by soldiers on October 20, 2020 could be described in the context of a massacre” was not justifiable based on facts on ground.

He said the findings of the panel were not backed up with facts.

The Minister said the discrepancies observed in the panel’s report have never been seen in the history of any judicial panel set up in the country.

He said: “Without mincing words, let me say that never in the history of any Judicial Panel in this country has its report been riddled with so many errors, inconsistencies, discrepancies, speculations, innuendoes, omissions and conclusions that are not supported by evidence.

“What is circulating in public space is simply a rehash of the unverified fake news that has been playing on social media since the incident of October 20, 2020.

“It is simply incredible that a Judicial Panel set up to investigate an incident has submitted a report laden with allegations, the same allegations it was set up to investigate in the first instance.

“Instead of sitting for all of one year, the panel could have just compiled social media ‘tales by the moonlight’ on the incident and submitted, saving taxpayers’ funds and everyone’s time.

“That report is nothing but the triumph of fake news and the intimidation of a silent majority by a vociferous lynch mob.

“The report of the panel in circulation cannot be relied upon because its authenticity is in doubt.

“There is absolutely nothing in the report, circulating, to change our mind that there was a massacre at the Lekki tollgate.”

Mohammed said the notion that soldiers and policemen massacred innocent Nigerians at the Lekki tollgate should be rejected.

He added: “The report in circulation is calculated to embarrass the Federal Government and its agencies without foolproof evidence.

 

“The Federal Government has never condoned the abuse of the rights of Nigerians by security agencies under any guise, hence it disbanded SARS.”