Nigeria police authorities have deployed at least 20 vehicles and many personnel to Lekki Toll Gate ahead of the walk/drive-by memorial scheduled for Thursday.
Nigerian youths have planned to host a second memorial of the #EndSARS protests on Thursday at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos State.
A flier shared by a popular musician, Folarin Falana aka Falz the Bahd guy, on his Instagram page revealed this on Wednesday.
The banner read in part, “#EndSARS Memorial 2.0 procession. In memory of those killed on October 20, 2022 and those we lost to police brutality, we will walk and drive through the toll gate, blast horns, sing and chat in unison through the toll gate, and wave our flags.”
Similarly, comedian and social justice activist Debo Adedayo, aka Mr. Macaroni, also tweeted that he would be participating in the event to honour the memory of those killed by police brutality.
“Peaceful walk tomorrow in honour of all #EndSars and police brutality victims. We no go fit ever forget!!!!” he tweeted.
SaharaReporters reported in 2021 that most of the findings by the Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up by the Lagos State Government to investigate police brutality and also the shooting of unarmed protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020, by personnel of the Nigerian Army and policemen, was validated by a 12-page document.
The document containing testimonies of victims and witnesses including a detailed analysis of the events surrounding the massacre by experts in various fields was compiled and released by Olukayode Dada, a partner with Udo Udoma & Belo-Osagie law firm in Lagos.
In the report, Dada, an expert in dispute resolution, compliance and investigations, stated that the Lagos State Government, Federal Government and military authorities all knew of the brutal killing of young Nigerians at the Lekki Toll Gate ahead of the incident.
According to the report, the activities of soldiers deployed to the scene of the peaceful demonstration and later policemen from the Maroko Division on the night of October 20, 2020, sufficiently qualified as crimes against humanity and therefore should be investigated by the International Criminal Court in light of the Nigerian Government’s unwillingness to act on the findings and recommendations of the Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry.
The report stated that though a Nigerian court can try soldiers indicted in the panel’s finding, the military authorities in the country are unlikely to offer the type of cooperation needed for such to take place.
At least nine persons were confirmed to have been killed by security agents deployed to the scene while several others were left with life-threatening injuries, according to the panel’s findings.
Truetells Nigeria had reported how soldiers moved several bodies away from the scene of the massacre in their vans to a hospital in Lagos to conceal the killings.
Soldiers deployed for the mission told relatives of victims that they were sent by the Lagos State governor to violently quell the protest.
Hence, this planned anniversary is aimed to preserve the memory of the unarmed civilians who were murdered by the security operatives during the protest at the Lekki Toll Gate when they were sitting on the ground, singing the national song and waving the national flag.
A global human rights advocacy group, Amnesty International, on Thursday lamented that over 40 protesters are still in prisons across Nigeria two years after the #EndSARS protest.
According to Amnesty International, panels set up to investigate police impunity also failed to deliver justice to victims.
In a statement posted on Twitter on Thursday, October 20, 2022, to mark the second memorial of #EndSARS, the group said, “Two years after the #EndSARS protests, over 40 protesters are still languishing in prisons across Nigeria, Amnesty International said today, while panels set up to investigate police impunity have failed to deliver justice to hundreds of victims of police brutality.
“Two years ago, the Nigerian army and police killed at least 12 people at Lekki toll Gate and in Alausa, Lagos State, while pro-government armed groups deliberately instigated violence at many #EndSARS demonstrations in other parts of the country. #LekkiMassacre.
“A further twenty-one #EndSARS protesters were held incommunicado for 15 months at Afaraukwu Correctional Service in Umuahia in Abia state for participating in the protests. On Friday 4 February 2022, they were released without charge following an intervention by @AmnestyNigeria.
“Many #EndSARS protesters told Amnesty International that they were tortured while in detention. Police abuse occurred in detention centres in police stations and other holding facilities, and inside police vehicles. Several cases amount to torture and other ill-treatment.”
https://twitter.com/mrmacaronii/status/1582669997515583488?t=po-qlANJWateroMTyTfSdg&s=19