Published 23rd Nov, 2021

By Daniel Ojukwu

Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, has demanded the identities of family members of victims named in the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS-Related Abuses and Other Matters’ leaked report.

Speaking during a press conference held in Abuja on Tuesday, the minister faulted the “cowardly leak of the judicial panel’s report”, claiming it was poorly put together, and unable to prove beyond doubt that there was a massacre at the Lekki tollgate on October 20, 2020.

He said the panel presented three names without surnames, failed to recommend compensation for “innocent business owners” who suffered losses, as well as officers in the police and army who also lost their lives during the protests.

Slamming CNN, Mohammed said it failed to do “due diligence” in its report as it published the details of the leaked report without verifying or questioning it.

In a bid to reiterate his stance on what he describes as a “phantom massacre”, Mohammed said: “Even goats have owners who would look for them if they do not return home, not to talk of human beings. Where are the family members of those reportedly killed at Lekki Toll Gate?”

He demanded the identities of the family members of the victims, and identity of those killed, despite the names already published in some media platforms (including FIJ) long before the report.

Earlier, President Muhammadu Buhari told the United States that the federal government would leave the states to arrive at a decision before it comments, but Mohammed’s comments deviate from the president’s position.

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