Three days after a leaked report of the Lagos State #EndSARS judicial panel went viral, which indicted the nation’s security forces of opening fire on the group of unarmed protesters and killing some citizens, President Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday told the visiting United States Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, that his government will wait for pronouncements from state governments, which set up panels to probe police brutality in the country.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement, after President Buhari received Blinken at the State House, Abuja.
Up till last month during the one year commemoration of the #EndSARS protest, the Federal Government had insistently denied that unarmed protesters were killed at the tollgate on October 20, 2020, with the Minister of Information, Mr. Lai Mohammed, describing the incident as a “massacre without bodies.”
But speaking yesterday, the President said: “So many state governments are involved, and have given different terms of reference to the probe panels. We at the Federal have to wait for the steps taken by the states, and we have to allow the system to work. We can’t impose ideas on them. Federal Government has to wait for the reaction of the states.”
The Lagos State government, reacting to the controversies that greeted the leaked report, on Wednesday, had called for restrain while a committee it set up develops a White Paper on the report in two weeks to advise government on the next line of action.
On the development of democratic ethos, the President said Nigeria has adopted the American model, “hook, line, and sinker, with its term limits. Those who have attempted to breach it were disappointed, if not disgraced.”
In his remarks, Blinken, who had held a virtual meeting with the President earlier in the year, said jocularly that it was now good to see him “mask to mask, hoping that we will soon see face to face.”
He appreciated the contributions of President Buhari to the protection of the climate, particularly, his presence and contributions at the recent COP26 climate conference held in Glasgow, Scotland.
Blinken said America and Nigeria have diverse challenges, but a common denominator is security, and hoped for better partnerships, “so that the bad guys won’t get the good guys.”
He also described the report of the EndSARS probe panel as “democracy in action,” stressing that America equally had its own police brutality, and hoping that necessary reforms would be made.
Addressing a joint press conference later with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, the US Secretary of State insisted that the responses by Lagos State and the Federal Government regarding the #EndSARS reports must show accountability, while the grievances of victims should also be looked into.
Blinken said: “We are working with Nigeria to address security challenges, including those posed by Boko Haram, ISIS West Africa (ISWAP) and other terrorist and extremist groups.
“In meetings with the President and the Vice President, we discussed the importance of a comprehensive approach that builds effective security forces that addresses the underlying drivers of extremism and respects Nigerians basic human rights.
“The United States is committed to helping Nigeria do that by continuing to invest in our security partnership, and the institutions that strengthen the rule of law, and that hold accountable those who commit human rights abuses, corruption and other acts that harm the Nigerian people. By tackling these issues, we can help to address some of the problems that have been key drivers of insecurity.
“To that end, let me say that we welcome the conclusion of the investigation by the independent inquiry established by the Lagos State government to look into the events that took place at Lekki Tollgate in October 20, 2020, and this, of course, was amidst the #EndSARS protest, including the killings and other alleged abuses by the security forces.
“We anticipate and look to the state and the Federal Government’s response to the findings, and expect those to include steps that ensure accountability and address the grievances of the victims and their families.”
