Our reporter/ Almost three years after the Lagos state government denied the brutal killing of unarmed protesters who were waving the Nigerian flag during the #EndSARS protest, governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has approved the mass burial of at least 103 protesters who were massacred by joint forces of the Nigerian Army and the police during the October 2020 mass protest against police brutality.
In a letter trending online, dated July 19 by the public procurement agency, the state government engaged the service of Messrs Tos Funeral Ltd, a private firm, at the cost of N61,285,000 to bury 103 bodies which were identified to be victims of the killings.
“Following review of your request and based on the information provided therein, the agency has “No Objection” to the award of contract to MESSRS TOS FUNERALS LIMITED at a total cost of N61,285,000 (Sixty-one million, two hundred and eighty-five thousand Naira only) for the mass burial for the 103, the year 2020 Endsars victims,” the letter read.
The Lagos state government had issued a white paper to deny the findings of the Lagos State’s judicial panel of inquiry, which described the incident as a massacre. The judicial panel had ruled that nothing could justify the war-grade violence unleashed on peaceful protesters, which led to the death of scores during the incident.
The judicial panel affirmed that the casualty of the incident was worsened because the army refused to allow ambulances and medical help to get to injured protesters who were in need of them.
The panel also added that the army stole the corpse of the protesters and wiped blood stains off the scene to hide evidence of its crime and hinder the investigation of the panel.
Chief pathologist of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Professor John Obafunwa, testified before the panel of inquiry that at least 99 bodies were deposited in morgues across Lagos from the EndSars protests, with several of them carrying bullet wounds, some blunt trauma, and some bruises.
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