Buhari reacts to Lagos #EndSARS report as Blinken visits

President Muhammadu Buhari has reacted to the report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and other Matters.

The Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel, which submitted its 309-page report to Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Monday, listed 48 casualties from the Lekki shooting, noting that 11 were confirmed dead, four missing and presumed dead, while others suffered gunshot injury, severe assault, among others.

The Nigerian government had insisted no one was killed in the attack on protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate, by men believed to be soldiers of the Nigerian Army.

The panel said the shooting of the #EndSARS protesters can be equated to a ‘massacre’ in context.

“The atrocious maiming and killing of unarmed, helpless and unresisting protesters, while sitting on the floor and waving their Nigerian flags, while singing the National Anthem can be equated to a ‘massacre’ in context,” the panel said in its findings.

READ: #EndSARS: 48 casualties, 11 persons ‘massacred’ – Lagos Panel (full list)

But Buhari speaking for the first time since the report of the panel went viral, said the Federal Government of Nigeria will allow the system to exhaust itself, by waiting for pronouncements from state governments which had set up similar panels to probe the EndSARS protests which rocked the country in 2020.

The President spoke Thursday at State House, Abuja, while receiving in audience Mr Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State.

“So many state governments are involved, and have given different terms of reference to the probe panels,” the President said.

“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 president added, according to a statement issued Thursday, by his spokesman, Femi Adesina.

On the recent removal of Nigeria from watchlist of countries violating religious freedom, which Blinken said was “based on facts,” President Buhari expressed the country’s appreciation, noting that there was freedom of worship in Nigeria, and no one is discriminated against on the basis of his or her faith.

He said education is a priority in the country, “because when you educate a people, there are certain levels they will not fall below.”

READ: Buhari warns against hooliganism as #EndSARS protesters regroup, commends the Army

The President equally appreciated the United States of America for allowing Nigeria to procure military hardware to fight terrorism in the country, and for the training given to Nigerian military.

“It’s helping us to stabilise the situation in the Northeast, and we’ve made a lot of progress since 2015,” he said. “We are doing a lot on security, and the people involved appreciate our efforts.”

Mr Blinken, who had held a virtual meeting with the Nigerian president earlier in the year said the United States 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 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.

He appreciated the contributions of President Buhari to protection of the climate, particularly his presence and contributions at the recent COP26 climate conference held in Glasgow, Scotland.