LAGOS, Nigeria – A leaked memo addressed to the Lagos State Ministry of Health has revealed that the State Government allocated N61,285,000 for the mass burial of 103 persons identified as victims of the 2020 EndSARS protests.
The memo, dated July 19, 2023, has gone viral on social media, triggering widespread outrage.
According to the memo, the governor approved the funds and are earmarked for the processing steps following the Ministerial Tenders’ Board Meeting.
The meeting reportedly reviewed the recommendations of the Procurement Planning Committee and raised no objections to the award of the mass burial contract to a funeral service provider.
The memo also instructed the approved company to remit all relevant taxes and deductions.
In a statement on Sunday evening, the Lagos State Ministry of Health confirmed the memo’s authenticity but insisted that its details were being misconstrued.
The state government contends that the victims were from incidents of violence that occurred in the aftermath of the EndSARS protests, not during the protests themselves.
“The 103 casualties mentioned in the document were from these incidents and NOT from Lekki Toll-gate as being alleged. For the avoidance of doubt, no body was retrieved from the Lekki Toll Gate incident,” the statement read.
This revelation has added fuel to an ongoing controversy over the number of deaths recorded during the EndSARS protest, which resulted in the governor establishing an inquest led by Justice Doris Okuwobi.
The Lagos and the Federal governments have consistently denied any mass killing during the EndSARS protests since they took place in 2020.
The protests, a response to police brutality and calls for comprehensive reform of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), spanned weeks and gained international attention.
They reached a critical point with the controversial shooting of protesters at the Lekki Tollgate in Lagos, a primary gathering site for the demonstrators.
However, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr Olusegun Ogboye, maintained that the bodies to be buried were collected by the Lagos State Environmental Health Unit (SEHMU) from different areas in Lagos State, in the wake of #EndSARS violence and community clashes.
The areas listed included Fagba, Ketu, Ikorodu, Orile, Ajegunle, Abule-Egba, Ikeja, Ojota, Ekoro, Ogba, Isolo, and Ajah. Ogboye also mentioned a jailbreak at Ikoyi Prison.
The Lagos Government has yet to comment on the leaked memo, more than two years after the nationwide protest.
The memo’s implications have reignited passionate discussions surrounding the government’s handling of the EndSARS protests.
