#LekkiMassacre: Group demands sack, prosecution of Info Minister for lying to Nigerians

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called for the dismissal, arrest and prosecution of Nigerian Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, for lying to Nigerians over the killing of unarmed #EndSARS protesters at Lekki Toll Gate.

The group made the call in a statement released on Tuesday in reaction to the findings of the Lagos State #EndSARS panel set up to investigate the incident.

HURIWA noted that if President Muhammadu Buhari fails to punish the minister he would be remembered as a dictator who oversaw the massacre of young Nigerian protesters.

It added that generations unborn would never forgive the president if he spares Mohammed.

HURIWA likened the minister’s action to a denial of the Holocaust, the killing of six million Jews by Adolf Hitler.

“We are asking the President Muhammadu Buhari to order the arrest and prosecution of his minister of information, Lai Mohammed for committing a grave and heartless offence that is equivalent to the denial of the Holocaust of the six million Jews by Adolf Hitler which is punishable by nearly half a century of incarceration,” the group said in the statement.

While commending the members of the panel for a job well done, HURIWA asked Buhari not to sweep the lawlessness of the security agencies under the carpet.

The Lagos State #EndSARS panel, in a report it submitted to the state government on Monday, said the Nigerian Army was guilty of a massacre at Lekki Toll Gate.

It established that the testimonies of victims, eyewitnesses and independent experts employed to examine the footage taken during the incident confirmed that the Army shot live bullets at protesters resulting in deaths and severe gunshot injuries.

According to the report, the panel noted that nine protesters were confirmed dead while four others were presumed dead.

The report listed 48 names as casualties of the Lekki incident.

Among the 48 casualties listed, 24 sustained gunshot injuries while 15 others were assaulted by soldiers and police.

The panel also noted that 96 other corpses were presented by a Forensic Pathologist of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, John Obafunwa.

Information and culture minister Mohammed has continued to deny the killings despite extensive and credible media coverage of the incident.