The Lagos state government says the bodies of 103 victims of #EndSARS protest in 2020 prepared for mass burial were not from the Lekki tollgate.
“For the records, the Lagos State Environmental Health Unit picked up bodies in the aftermath of #EndSARS violence and community clashes at Fagba, Ketu, Ikorodu, Orile, Ajegunle, Abule-Egba, Ikeja, Ojota, Ekoro, Ogba, Isolo and Ajah areas of Lagos state,” the statement reads.
“There was also a jailbreak at Ikoyi Prison. The 103 casualties mentioned in the document were from these incidents and NOT from Lekki Toll-gate as being alleged. For the avoidance of doubt, no body was retrieved from the Lekki Toll Gate incident.
The state government, in a statement released on Sunday, said no dead body was retrieved from the Lekki tollgate.
Earlier, a Ministerial Tenders’ Board Meeting reportedly sat over the recommendations of the Procurement Planning Committee, after which no objections were raised to the award of the mass burial contract to a funeral service provider.
The five-paragraph leaked memo also directs that relevant taxes and deductions are remitted by the approved company.
In response, the Lagos State Ministry of Health confirmed the letter in a statement on Sunday evening, but insisted that details were being misconstrued.
There has been controversy over the number of deaths recorded during the EndSARS protest, resulting in the governor setting up an inquest led by Justice Doris Okuwobi.
Since the protest in 2020, both the Lagos Government and the Federal Government have consistently denied any mass killing during the EndSARS protests.
The memo is coming over two years after the widespread protest across the country. The Lagos Government has yet to comment on the leaked memo.
Thousands of Nigerians across the country took to the streets to protest police brutality and called for far-reaching reforms, particularly with regard to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the police.
The weeks-long protests, which gained international attention, culminated in the controversial shooting of protesters at the popular Lekki Tollgate in Lagos, one of the rallying points for those who partook in the demonstrations.
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