Two years after it denied the outright massacre of the ENDSARS protesters, a leaked memo has revealed that the Lagos State government has approved N61,285,000 for the mass burial of 103 persons identified as 2020 victims of the protest.
The memo dated July 19, 2023 which was addressed to the Lagos State Ministry of Health has gone viral on social media, sparking outrage from several quarters.
Modalities for the processing of funds after the governor’s approval was spelt out in the memo.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that a Ministerial Tenders’ Board Meeting reportedly sat over the recommendations of the Procurement Planning Committee, after which no objections were raised to the award of the mass burial in contract to a funeral service provider.
Furthermore, the more asked that relevant taxes and deductions be remitted by the approved company.
Recall that there has been controversy over the number of deaths recorded during the 2020 EndSARS protest with the government at the state and federal level denying that there was a massacre during the protest.
Following the incident, the governor set up an inquest led by Justice Doris Okuwobi to investigate the claims.
The memo is coming over two years after the widespread protest across the country.
During the protest which lasted for two weeks, thousands of Nigerians across the country took to the streets to protest police brutality and called for far-reaching reforms, particularly with regard to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the police.
The protest had garnered international attention following the controversial shooting of protesters at the popular Lekki Tollgate in Lagos, one of the rallying point of the protest.
The Lagos Government is yet to comment on the leaked memo.
See copy of the leaked memo below
