Two years after the popular Endsars protest tragically ended with the alleged shooting of unarmed protesters by the Army in Lekki, a leaked memo circulating on social media indicates that the Lagos State Government approved a huge amount of money for the mass burial of the victims.
The memo, as seen by MUK TV, was addressed to the Lagos State Ministry of Health by the State’s Public Procurement Agency, approving the sum of N61,285,000 for the mass burial of 103 persons identified as 2020 EndSARS victims.
The memo dated July 19, 2023, captures the procedural steps for the processing of funds after approval by the governor.
A Ministerial Tenders’ Board Meeting had earlier reportedly been held 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, Messrs. Tos Funeral Service Limited.
The five-paragraph leaked memo also directed that relevant taxes and deductions be remitted by the approved company.
Meanwhile, reacting to the leaked memo, the Lagos State Ministry of Health confirmed the letter in a statement on Sunday evening but insisted that details were being misinterpreted.
The state government argued that the victims were victims of incidents of violence that occurred in the aftermath of the EndSARS protests.
It maintained that the victims to be buried were not from the Lekki Tollgate shooting.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, said the Lagos State Environmental Health Unit (SEHMU) picked up bodies in the aftermath of #EndSARS violence and community clashes.
The areas cited included Fagba, Ketu, Ikorodu, Orile, Ajegunle, Abule-Egba, Ikeja, Ojota, Ekoro, Ogba, Isolo, and Ajah areas of Lagos State. Ogboye added that 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, nobody was retrieved from the Lekki Toll Gate incident,” the statement reads in parts.
In 2020, thousands of Nigerian youths across the country took to the streets to protest police brutality, calling for comprehensive reforms, particularly about the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the police, which had become a menace at that time.
The protests, which had gained unimaginable momentum, attracted international attention but tragically ended in the controversial shooting of protesters at the popular Lekki Tollgate in Lagos, which became the epicenter of the demonstration.
Since the shooting, both the Lagos State Government and the Federal Government have repeatedly denied the reports of a shooting at the tollgate, with the setting up of a panel of inquiry to investigate the alleged shooting.
