The N61 million allocated by the Lagos State Government for the mass burial of 103 corpses found after the October 2020 #EndSARS demonstration has been questioned by a counsel for certain #EndSARS demonstrators, Mr. Adesina Ogunlana.
The validity of a document that was released on Sunday and indicated that 103 corpses will be mass buried was confirmed by the state authorities.
The letter, dated July 19, 2023, was sent to the Lagos State Ministry of Health by the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency.
The letter, which was approved for the sum of N61,285,000 for the mass burial of 103 corpses, was signed by Mr. Onafowote Idowu, Director-General of the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency.
However, Ogunlana, a lawyer for some #EndSARS demonstrators who claimed to have been shot at the Lekki tollgate on October 20, 2020, or to have seen military kill protesters, expressed shock at the amount planned for mass burial of unclaimed remains.
The activist-lawyer said, “My concern is not about the people that died but the fact that somebody is saying he wants to carry out a mass burial with N61m – the mass burial of unidentified bodies, of degraded bodies that died about two years ago, roughly about 20 or 19 months ago.
“You want to use N61m for mass burial! It should not even be up to N1m. Is it not just digging a big grave and putting the bodies there? That shows you the exploitation of the ruling class that we have, who are telling the people to bear the pain and to bear with the government.”
Ogunlana, nevertheless, expressed his lack of contention towards the explanation provided by the Lagos State Government, which asserts that none of the 103 deceased individuals were retrieved from the Lekki tollgate.
“I am not going to lump it together, I will differentiate and say no we have been vindicated that people died at Lekki tollgate but not anything with 103, there was no evidence like that at the panel. But people died and there was a massacre even if it was only one person,” he said.
However, in a prompt response, Gboyega Akosile, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the government ran a highly efficient and successful financial system and things followed proper process.
Akosile said, “Lagos State is a very responsible government. We run a very efficient and effective financial structure. Everything passes through the procurement process. Things are based on market value. Does he (the lawyer) have the contractual agreement between the contractors and the Lagos government? Does he know the nitty-gritty? If you do not have the XYZ of a contract, you cannot determine if money earmarked is too high or too low, otherwise everything you’re saying will just amount to wanting to talk.
“He should stick to his representation in the #EndSARS and not bother dabbling into what he does not have knowledge about.”
