The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives has said it has reviewed the Lagos EndSARS report and observed that the Federal Government has questions to answer.

The lawmakers in a statement signed by Minority Leader, Ndudi Elumelu on Thursday said the report has confirmed that there was indeed a massacre at Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020, despite the earlier denial of killings.

“The Minority Caucus in the House of Representatives, after a thorough review of the report of the Lagos State EndSARS judicial panel, holds that the attempt by officials of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government to cover up the now confirmed massacre of Nigerians youths by security forces at the Lekki Tollgate suggests a high-level state-backed conspiracy against Nigerians.

“The confirmation by the Lagos Panel that there was indeed a massacre at the Lekki Tollgate during the 2020 EndSARS protests in Lagos and that APC government-controlled security forces carted away bodies and mopped up evidence, places a huge burden on the Federal Government which had vehemently denied any killings,” the statement read in part.

The Minority caucus also flayed the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed for “rushing to the media, ahead of the judicial panel, to insist that there were no killings at Lekki Tollgate, even in the face of testimonies of witnesses at the sad event.”

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They described it as a shocking attempt to cover up details of the October 20 event demanding that justice be served.

“Our caucus is however shocked that the administration can lie in a matter that has to do with the gruesome killing of citizens, particularly our youths, and even attempt to provide official cover to the culprits.

“As representatives of the people, the minority caucus holds that killing of our young ones for having the audacity to demand justice, rule of law, and good governance in our nation is the height of wickedness which will continue to haunt the APC and its administration until justice is served.”

The Minority caucus, therefore, called on the APC-led Federal Government “not to cover up the vicious act,” but based on the findings of the Lagos panel, “the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed is expected to resign immediately or be fired by President Muhammadu Buhari.”

The caucus commended the Lagos panel for “its boldness in the pursuit of truth and justice and urges other panels investigating allegations of brutality in other states not to be deterred but ensure that the truth is not suppressed.”

They commiserated with the victims of the Lekki Tollgate attack, particularly the families of those killed, and urged Nigerians to remain calm at this crucial moment.

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Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN), says all those who tried to cover up the shootings at the Lekki toll gate on October 20, 2020, must be sanctioned for complicity.

Specifically, Falana said the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed; the Attorney General of Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN); as well as the managers of the toll gate, the Lekki Concession Company; should be sanctioned for trying to cover up the “crimes against humanity committed at the toll gate” during the EndSARS protests last year.

Following the shootings and the reported killings at the Lekki toll gate, the Lagos State Government had constituted the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and other matters to, amongst other things, probe the Lekki incident.

On Monday, after about a year, the Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel submitted its report to the Lagos State Government, noting that at least nine persons were confirmed dead at the Lekki toll plaza when soldiers stormed the tollgate to disperse EndSARS protesters on October 20, 2020.

The 309-page report stated, “The atrocious maiming and killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters while sitting on the floor and waving their Nigerian flags and while singing the National Anthem can be equated to a massacre in context.”

It recommended that all army officers deployed in the Lekki tollgate should be made to face appropriate disciplinary action, stripped of their ranks and dismissed as they were not fit and proper to serve in any public or security service of the nation.

The United States, the United Nations, the United Kingdom, and Amnesty International have since called on the Nigerian authorities to ensure that the panel’s report is handled transparently.

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who received the report on Monday, constituted a Committee to bring forward a White Paper within the next two weeks to be considered by the Lagos State Executive Council.

The PUNCH reports that the panel’s report negates the consistent claim by the Federal Government of Nigeria that there was no “massacre” at the toll gate, a focal gathering point during last year’s nationwide demonstration against extrajudicial killings and police brutality by operatives of the now-defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force.

Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, had at various times maintained that the Lekki incident was a “massacre without bodies” and had threatened to sue Cable News Network and other international bodies that claimed otherwise.

Malami had also said those who attacked the youths at Lekki toll gate weren’t soldiers but wore military camouflages while the LCC had allegedly removed the closed-circuit television at the toll gate in a move that had been widely described as a cover-up.

Speaking on Thursday, Falana said those who released the Lekki panel report feared cover-up by the government, hence, they released the report to the public to know their findings.

He spoke on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ program monitored by The PUNCH.

Falana, who said the report is one of the best so far in the country, added that there is no room for a cover-up.

The human rights lawyer noted that Mohammed, Malami, the LCC, and all those who tried to cover up the killings at Lekki must be sanctioned.

When asked whether the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), should speak on the report of the panel, Falana said, “No, not yet; the President made a broadcast last year in 2020 based on the information given to him. I’m sure you are aware that five times, the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said nobody was killed. The Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Abubakar Malami (SAN), said those who appeared in Lekki were not Nigerian soldiers but people just put on military uniforms to perpetrate atrocities.

“Even the military denied that (but) it was when the young people who are advanced in technology and who took photographs in the night when the soldiers were shooting, it was at that stage that the military said, ‘Yes, we were shooting, we only shot into the air’.

“And the panel found that even LAWMA (Lagos State Waste Management Authority) went there to do a clean-up in the night, in the early hours of 21st (of October 2020) so that there would be no trail but by the time the panel visited the scene of the incident they were still able to pick some expired bullets.”

“The panel painstakingly analysed the evidence of every witness before arriving at the conclusion. So, it is difficult to cover up what happened on that day,” he added.

On what should happen to the federal officers who allegedly tried to cover up, the senior advocate said, “They are all going to be sanctioned. Anybody who attempted to cover up would be sanctioned, any of them including those who managed Lekki, the LCC, because they disabled their system in order to cover up.”

“Any regime in the world that says these are federal officers and we are not going to sanction them, if you don’t, these are materials for the ICC (International Criminal Court). Under the Rome Statute, the ICC will only intervene if a government is unwilling or unable to prosecute those who engaged in crimes against humanity, genocide and aggression. If by the time the (Lagos State) government issues its White Paper, recommendations are made and these people are not prosecuted, that is not the end of the matter. No President can behave as in the ‘80s, that this is an internal affair.”

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The Senate has passed a bill to establish the real estate regulatory council of Nigeria.

The bill is tagged: The Real Estate Regulatory Council of Nigeria (Establishment) Bill, 2021.

The passage of the bill followed the consideration of a report by the Committee on Establishment and Public Service.

The report was laid during plenary by the Deputy Chief Whip, Senator Sabi Abdullahi.

Senator Nicholas Tofowomo,  presented the report on behalf of the Committee Chairman, Ibrahim Shekarau.

The lawmaker said the council would be responsible for prescribing minimum standards for the conduct of the businesses of real estate development across the country.

If assented to by President Muhammadu Buhari, the establishment of the Real Estate Council of Nigeria is expected to provide efficient, effective, and transparent administration of the business of real estate development in Nigeria.

The Council when established would, amongst others, curb fraudulent practices to ensure that the real estate business confirms with the National Building Code in Nigeria.

It would also be responsible for prescribing minimum standards for the conduct of the businesses of real estate development across the country.

The bill sponsored by Aliyu Wamakko (APC, Kebbi) was read for the first time on April 28, 2021, and a scaled second reading on June 22, 2021.

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THE House of Representatives has passed for second reading a bill seeking to make it compulsory for the Federal Government to provide free health care services for children in Nigeria.

The legislation, which was sponsored by a member, Bello Kaoje, is titled, ‘A Bill for an Act to Make Health Care Service Delivery Free for All Children in Nigeria; and for Related Matters.’

Leading the debate on the bill at the plenary on Wednesday, Kaoje stated that children’s health needs were significantly different from those of adults.

“By nature, children grow and develop at rapid rates, placing them at special risk of being affected by illness and injury,” he said.

The lawmaker also stated that, “If health problems are not identified and treated, they can affect a child’s cognitive, physical, behavioural and emotional development,” stressing that, “With the Federal Government’s health care initiative, Save One Million Lives, it is important to make free medical services for children in Nigeria.”

Kaoje noted that when the Free Health Care Services Delivery to Children in Nigeria Bill was passed into law, it would ensure that all health care services delivered to children were for free.

Source

https://abntv.com.ng/2021/11/us-removes-nigeria-from-religious-freedom-violators-list/