The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu has told the people of the State that it is easy for them to hide behind their own prejudices and treat them as deeper truths “instead of the superficial lies they are”
Sanwo-Olu broke his silence on Tuesday weeks after he received the report of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on the shooting at Lekki Toll Gate and other acts of police brutality around the State.
Recall that the report unraveled the alleged atrocities of the soldiers of the Nigerian Army, who were accused of storming a protest scene in Lakki, killing many of the innocent protesters, majorly youths.
In a speech delivered on Tuesday, Sanwo-Olu pointed out that the version of the panel’s report on social media was unauthorised, adding that sadly it has reopened a deep wound.
The panel had said that through its investigations, it found out that at least 46 unarmed protesters were either killed, injured with bullets, or assaulted by security forces at the Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020.
The Federal Government of Nigeria has since rejected the report through the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, who described it as tale by moonlight
“It is, however, regrettable that the panel’s work and the leakage of an unauthorized version of the report have generated much tension. Sadly, a deep wound has been reopened,” Sanwo-Olu said..
“In times like these, with anger and animosity too quick and fast at hand, it is easy to hide behind our own prejudices, treating them as deeper truths instead of the superficial lies they are.
“It is far too easy to take sides and choose emotion over fact, even when the truth is to be found in shades of nuance. It is easy to choose darkness over light; to take perverse delight in playing unhelpful games of cynicism and suspicion; to cling to beliefs that do not carry the weight of verifiable evidence,” he said.
“I choose harmony over harm. As your Governor, it is my task to explain why all Lagosians should join me on this path that promises a more beneficial future,” he said.