EndSARS: ‘Even goats have owners’ – Lai Mohammed queries absence of victims’ family members

The Federal Government has queried the Lagos State judicial panel over its report claiming that family members of those killed during the EndSARS protest are afraid to speak.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, in a statement on Tuesday, urged the Judicial Panel to convince anyone that the names of some casualties of the Lekki Toll Gate incident listed as numbers 3 (Jide), 42 (Tola) and 43 (Wisdom) are not fictitious names.

He wondered who will be compensated since the families of allegedly killed EndSARS protesters failed to appear due to fear.

According to him, “Even goats have owners if they do not return home not talk of human beings?”

Lai Mohammed said: “The panel was silent on the family members of those reportedly killed, merely insinuating they were afraid to testify. Even goats have owners who will look for them if they do not return home, not to talk of human beings. Where are the family members of those who were reportedly killed at Lekki Toll Gate? If the panel is recommending compensation for the families, what are their identities and addresses? Who will receive the compensations when no family members have shown up to date?

“How did a man who reported seeing the lifeless body of his brother himself end up being on the list of the panel’s deceased persons?

“How can a Judicial Panel convince anyone that the names of some casualties of the Lekki Toll Gate incident listed as numbers 3 (Jide), 42 (Tola) and 43 (Wisdom) are not fictitious names.

“Why did the Judicial Panel feels compelled to concoct a ”massacre in context” as a euphemism for ”massacre”? A massacre is a massacre. What is ”massacre in context?

“The report never mentioned cases of police personnel who were brutally murdered or the massive destruction of police stations, vehicles, e.t.c. during the EndSARS protest. Does this mean that the panel didn’t consider policemen and women as human beings?”

The Minister concluded that the report by the Lagos State EndSARS judicial panel failed to make any recommendation on the innocent persons whose businesses were attacked and destroyed during the protest in Lagos.

“I think it was too busy looking for evidence to support its conclusion of ‘massacre in context’,” Mohammed added.