#EndSARS: Lagos Govt White Paper Fails to Heal Wounds, Says Ubani

Wale Igbintade

Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA-SPIDEL), Dr. Monday Ubani, has stated that no wound has been healed by the Lagos State White Papers on the #EndSARS panel that probed the Lekki Toll Gate incident of October 20, 2020.

Speaking with THISDAY, Ubani said the state government lost golden opportunity to show itself as a humane government.

The state government had in the White Paper released last Tuesday said the findings of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry that nine persons were killed at the Lekki Tollgate on October 20, 2020, is incorrect.

He stated that the state government had said the “finding of nine deaths at LTG on October 20, 2020, is even more baffling because apart from listing out their names in tabular form at pages 297 to 298, the JPI offered no explanation regarding the circumstances of their death.”

But in his reaction, Ubani accused the state government of failing to meet its own expectations and that of the Nigerians youths.

He said: “The whitepaper failed all expectations, and I am sorry to say that Lagos State has lost the most golden opportunity to show itself as a humane government.

“No wound has been healed by this White Paper. The white paper I am sorry to say is ‘stained’.

“The Lagos State Government placed heavy reliance on the pathologist evidence but failed to acknowledge the evidence of LCC, the managers of Lekki Tollgate. Their evidence acknowledged shooting and death at the Lekki Tollgate.

“The state government failed to acknowledge the evidence of eye witnesses that gave evidence of shooting and death. There can’t be peace without justice. The peace walk is a farce, in fact a real waste of precious time”.

In his reaction, the Chairman NBA, Lagos State branch, Mr. Ikechukwu Uwanna,‎ ‎‎said the association is still studding the White Paper, and will come up with a position.