Three years after youths stage protests against police brutality in the country under the aegis of ENDSARS, a leaked memo from the Lagos State government, has brought back the issue to the front-bunner of national discourse.
On October 20, 2020, many youths were believed to have been killed by soldiers who stormed the Lekki Toll gate, Lagos, in the night where the protest was being held.
The state government had denied allegation by local and foreign human rights bodies that some youths were killed by the soldiers, who were said to have dumped some of the bodies into the lagoon.
The state government later set up a judicial panel headed by Justice Okuwo I to investigate the killings following the outcry from Nigerians.
But on Sunday, a viral memo detailed how the state government planned to conduct a mass burial for some EndSARS victims.
The leaked document from the state Ministry of Health had sought approval from the state governor on how to bury over 100 casualties from the protest.
Since the memo went viral, not a few Nigerians, particularly from the state have criticized the government for being economical with the truth over the EndSARS saga.
According to those who reacted, there is more truth to what the state government revealed to the public on the matter, particularly on the actual number of people killed during the protest.
The state government had plainly maintained that it did not order the soldiers to storm the venue of the protest, it also denied that people were killed at the Lekki Toll gate.
While reiterating its earlier position on the matter, the state government, in a statement issued on Sunday said the memo was the work of mischief makers, urging the public to disregard it.
In the statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, the state government said those it was planning s mass burial for are not from the Lekki Toll gate shooting.
It said those peddling the rumour are only trying to disrupt peace in the state, adding that the 103 casualties were picked up from other parts of the state during the protest.
Ttled RE: MASS BURIAL OF ENDSARS VICTIMS (MISCHIEF MAKERS AT WORK) the government said, “The attention of the Lagos State Government has been drawn to some social media publications about a purported mass burial plan for casualties of the 2020 #EndSARS incident. Peddlers of the news are deliberately misinterpreting and sensationalising a letter from the Lagos State Government Public Procurement Agency titled: Letter of No Objection — Mass Burial for the 103, the Year 2020 ENDSARS victims, to misinform the public, stir public sentiment and cause public disaffection against the Lagos State Government.
“While the Lagos State Government would not have dignified the mischievous elements peddling such news with a response, we consider it appropriate to set the records straight and draw the attention of well-meaning citizens to the antics of some unscrupulous elements who are hell-bent on disrupting the peace and tranquillity of Lagos with distorted news and half-truths about the PPA letter.
“It is public knowledge that the year 2020 #EndSARS crisis that snowballed into violence in many parts of Lagos recorded casualties in different areas of the State and NOT from the Lekki Toll Gate as being inferred in the mischievous publications.
“For the records, the Lagos State Environmental Health Unit (SEHMU) picked up bodies in the aftermath of #EndSARS violence and community clashes at Fagba, Ketu, Ikorodu, Orile, Ajegunle, Abule-Egba, Ikeja, Ojota, Ekoro, Ogba, Isolo and Ajah areas of Lagos State, including a jailbreak at Ikoyi Prison. The 103 casualties mentioned in the document were from these incidents and NOT from Lekki Toll-gate as alleged. For the avoidance of doubt, nobody was retrieved from the Lekki Toll Gate incident.
“In the aftermath of the #EndSARS violence, the office of the Chief Coroner invited members of the public Throughout public adverts and announcement who had lost loved ones or whose relatives had been declared missing between 19th and 27th October 2020 from various clashes as mentioned above, to contact the department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) to help with identification of these casualties deposited in State-owned mortuaries. Relatives were to undergo DNA tests for identification purposes. It is important to state categorically that nobody responded to claim any of the bodies.
“However, after almost three years, the bodies remain unclaimed, adding to the congestion of the mortuaries. This spurred the need to decongest the mortuaries, a procedure that follows very careful medical and legal guidelines in the event that a relative may still turn up to claim a lost relative years after the incident.
“Decongestion of our public morgues is a periodic and regular exercise approved by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to free up space in mortuaries that have a large number of unclaimed bodies.”
Meanwhile, those monitoring the development said the EndSARS issue has not been totally closed, noting that more revelations are bound to emerge in the future.
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