The Lagos State Government says it has suspended its planned mass burial of the 103 corpses recovered in the wake of the October 2020 #EndSARS protest.
The Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, told PUNCH Healthwise on Monday that the planned mass burial had been suspended, following the controversy generated by the announcement in July.
PUNCH Healthwise reported that in a leaked memo dated July 19, 2023, the state government had said it would conduct a mass burial for the 103 corpses.
The leaked memo detailed the approval of N61,285,000 for the mass burial.
Though the state government, through the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Olusegun Ogboye, confirmed the authenticity of the leaked memo, it explained that the said victims were not picked from the Lekki Tollgate, venue of the controversial shooting.
The government claimed the bodies were picked up from different parts of Lagos like Ikeja, Ajah, Isolo, and Ikorodu, among other places.
This had raised dust and widespread condemnation among Nigerians, human rights campaigners and civil society organisations.
A human rights organisation, Amnesty International demanded that the state government suspend the planned mass burial.
In addition to the suspension demand, Amnesty International had asked the government to “also carry out transparent coroner inquest and autopsies on the 103 #EndSARS victims.”
According to the Director of Information, Amnesty International, Isa Sanusi, in a statement demanded for an independent investigation into the matter, adding that an autopsy has to be done on the corpses.
He also asked that the identities of those to be buried be revealed.
“The Nigerian authorities must urgently halt their plans to carry out a secret mass burial of #EndSARS victims and instead carry out a thorough and independent investigation into the killings and ensure that those suspected to be responsible are brought to justice in fair trials.
“They must also carry out transparent coroner inquests and autopsies on the 103 #EndSARS victims and publish their identities and the circumstances of their deaths.
“It is appalling that the Lagos state government has not even mentioned that it has held the bodies of 103 #EndSARS victims in its custody since October 2020,” he stated.
Also, a group, the Coalition of #EndSARS Protesters and Supporters, demanded for a DNA mapping before going ahead with its planned mass burial for the 103 corpses.
The coalition also said the government should compensate families of the victims and “provide therapy for the trauma they have caused their families over the last three years.”
The rights group further demanded that the government “must also carry out transparent coroner inquests and autopsies on the 103 #EndSARS victims.”
The Coalition of #EndSARS Protesters and Supporters also demanded that the Lagos State Government should “suspend the planned mass burial of 103 bodies in TOS Funeral Services immediately; implement the recommendations of the judicial panel of inquiry’s White Paper; and establish a one-month notice for citizens to access the 103 bodies, in the hopes of identifying their loved ones.”
In its reaction, the state government through the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Mr Gboyega Akosile, exclusively told PUNCH Healthwise that the government would “conform to global best practices” in carrying out the mass burial.
When asked for an update on the matter on Monday, the Commissioner for Information and Strategy said the planned mass burial “remains suspended to give people ample time to identify their relatives that may be among the corpses.”
“It is to allow more time for identification as suggested when it was disclosed that the government was planning a mass burial for them,” Omotoso said.
He stated further that “up till now, nobody has shown up to identify any of the corpses. But the government has decided to give people more time.”
He added that the planned burial would “be carried out soon, but because of the controversies around that time, it was suspended. People now have the time and ample opportunity to see if their relatives are there.”
SOURCE: PUNCH