N61m for mass burial: The bodies to be buried were retrieved from other places and not from Lekki tollgate – Lagos state govt breaks its silence

 

Lagos state government has reacted to reports claiming it has approved the sum of N61 million for the mass burial of bodies recovered during the October 20, 2020 EndSARS protest. 

A document from the Lagos State Public Procurement Agency to the state Ministry of Health approving the money for the mass burial made the round on social media earlier today, July 23. Some Nigerians attacked the state government for approving the money when during the crisis, the state government claimed nobody died at the Lekki tollgate after the military invaded the tollgate to disperse the protesters.

Reacting to the backlash, the state government in a statement released, said the bodies to be buried were retrieved from other parts of the state and not from Lekki tollgate. The state government insists nobody was killed at the Lekki tollgate. The statement reads

picked up bodies in the aftermath of #EndSARS violence and community clashes at Fagba, Ketu, Ikorodu, Orile, Ajegunle, Abule-Egba, Ikeja, Ojota, Ekoro, Ogba, Isolo and Ajah areas of Lagos State, including a jailbreak at Ikoyi Prison. 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.

In the aftermath of the #EndSARS violence, the office of the Chief Coroner invited members of the public Throughout public adverts and announcement who had lost loved ones or whose relatives had been declared missing between 19th and 27th October 2020 from various clashes as mentioned

above, to contact the department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) to help with identification of these casualties deposited in State-owned morgues. Relatives were to undergo DNA tests for identification purposes. It is important to state categorically that nobody responded to claim any of the bodies.

However, after almost three years, the bodies remain unclaimed, adding to the congestion of the morgues. This spurred the need to decongest the morgues – a procedure that follows very careful medical and legal guidelines in the event that a relative may still turn up to claim a lost relative years after the incident.

Decongestion of our public morgues is a periodic and regular exercise approved by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to free up space in mortuaries that have a large number of unclaimed bodies.

#AGreaterLagosRising ‘’