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The Federal Government has rejected the report of the Lagos State judicial panel agaiant police brutality on the shooting of #EndSARS protesters at Lekki toll gate on October 20,2020, insisting that there was no massacre at the toll gate.
Addressing a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday, Minister od Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said the findings of the panel were not backed up with facts.
He said that report is riddled with discrepancies.
According to Mohammed, 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: “It’s no longer news that the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry that investigated cases of police brutality as well as the incident of October 20th, 2020, at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos has submitted its report.
”The submission happened while I was out of the country on national assignment.
”Unlike many commentators and analysts, we took our time to read and digest the report, and we are now well placed to respond.
“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 toll gate.”
The minister said the notion that soldiers and police officers massacred innocent Nigerians at Lekki tollgate should be rejected.
“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,” he added.
Mohammed vowed never to resign, saying: ”There have been clamours for my resignation right from the day I took this office. So I take it in its strides.”