The Lagos state government says most of the injuries
sustained by protesters at the Lekki tollgate were from machete cuts and
stampede.
Hakeem Muri-Okunola, head of service, stated this on
Tuesday, when he appeared before the Lagos judicial panel on police brutality
to represent the state government.
Muri-Okunola came to the panel to present a timeline of the
activities of the Lagos state government during the #EndSARS protests,
including the Lekki tollgate shooting.
The head of service noted that the state government established an ad-hoc committee, referred to as the incident command centre, during the protests to monitor the security situation in Lagos.
He said when Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of the state,
visited Reddington hospital and General hospital, Marina, on October 21, 2020,
it was discovered that 25 patients were receiving treatment in the two
hospitals.
“Due to the monitoring activities of the incident command
centre, we were informed that there were indeed casualties in some of our
hospitals in Lagos. There were more than other places — based on our feedback
and information monitoring — in Reddington hospital on Admiralty way, and in
General hospital, Marina,” he said.
“Getting to about 10:30pm (on October 20, 2020), the
governor then decided that we should go out to see what was going on for
ourselves — a decision that his core security personnel rejected outrightly as
unsafe.
“At about 12:30am, 21st October — we have crossed to
midnight now — because of the number of people that were reported to have been
in Reddington hospital, the governor, against the said security advice, decided
to visit and see what was going on at the toll plaza, the Reddington hospital
and General hospital, Lagos.
“In this Reddington hospital, these individuals were injured
in that axis. Some of them alluded to being injured in a stampede of running,
falling over each other.
“Predominantly, there were about 13 people injured in
Reddington hospital Admiralty way. The General Hospital also had 12 patients.
The doctors in charge said there was one of those patients that was being moved
to LASUTH, who had more severe injuries from machete wounds.
“At the time we were there, most of the injuries were all in
the nature of cuts, bruises from machete wounds and stampede. Nobody at the
hospitals said they were shot at.”
He insisted that only two persons died as a result of the
incident at Lekki tollgate.
“The Lagos state governor confirmed two deaths — one of
which was said to have died at Reddington hospital on Admiralty way, who died
as a result of blunt force trauma, and the other at Yaba. The governor stated
that there was going to be an investigation to confirm the nexus of the death
in the incident of Lekki,” he added.
Commenting on the role played by the social media during the
#EndSARS protests, he noted that online activities contributed to the “wanton
destruction” that occured during the demonstrations.
“The incitement of this misinformation played a major role
in the mayhem, wanton destruction and loss of lives that followed the Lekki
incident throughout Lagos state, costing taxpayers losses that may take years
and billions of naira to mitigate,” he said.
“There has been controversy about the actual number of
alleged deaths at the Lekki toll incident. However, since 22 October, 2020,
many of the people reported to have been killed issued denunciation of their
rumoured deaths.”
During cross-examination, Adesina Ogunlana, counsel to
#EndSARS protesters, asked the head of service about the identity of those
involved in the shooting at Lekki tollgate.
“Can you confirm that men from Bonny camp were at the
scene?” Ogunlana asked.
“That is what I heard. Based on the information that we
heard, military men from Bonny camp were there,” Muri-Okunola responded.
At the hearing, the head of service presented a document
detailing the private and public properties destroyed during the #EndSARS
protests.
The case was adjourned till June 29, 2021, to enable Olumide
Fusika, another counsel to #EndSARS protesters, cross-examine the head of
service.
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