General
EndSARS: Human Rights Watch Calls for Action on Panel Recommendations
By Adedapo Adesanya
Human Rights Watch has called on Nigerian authorities to act on the #EndSARS panel recommendations and hold those responsible to account.
This call was made in a press statement on Monday in which the group accused the federal government of not making efforts to ensure justice for the killing of protesters in Lagos state in 2020, six months after a judicial panel implicated security forces in the abuses.
Speaking on this, Mr Anietie Ewang, Nigeria researcher at Human Rights Watch said, “The report of the judicial panel of inquiry should not be swept under the rug without any consequences for those responsible for killing and injuring protesters.
“A failure to act on the panel’s recommendations will send a painful message to victims and risks encouraging more violence by security officers.”
For context, in October 2020, young people across Nigeria took to the streets calling for the disbandment of an abusive police unit known as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and for an end to the brutality, in a movement using the hashtag #EndSARS.
Security forces responded with excessive force, including gunfire. One of the worst crackdowns was at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos on October 20, when army and police officers opened fire on a crowd of protesters, leaving people dead and wounded.
In response, the Lagos state governor, Mr Babajide Sanwolu, mandated a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the incident and provide recommendations for justice and accountability.
The panel heard testimonies for a year from victims and representatives of the army, the police, and hospitals that treated victims. It was found in November 2021 that the security forces shot, injured, and killed unarmed protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate, corroborating Human Rights Watch findings.
The panel also presented a list of at least 48 casualties, including nine dead, four missing and presumed dead, and 21 wounded by gunshots. The panel recommended appropriate disciplinary measures and dismissals of army officers implicated in the abuses. The panel also recommended prosecuting police officers implicated in the indiscriminate shooting and killing of protesters at the toll gate and prompt payment of the compensation that the panel awarded to victims.
The Nigerian police and military authorities have neither taken further steps to independently investigate nor responded to the panel’s findings and recommendations.
The federal government, which has oversight of these institutions, rejected the panel’s recommendations. The Lagos state governor, who called for the investigation and gave assurances that victims would get closure, has also been quiet on the issue of accountability.
Nigeria has a poor history with judicial panels of inquiries, whose recommendations have no force of law and are often dependent on the responsible authorities to carry out the recommendations.
A lack of political will on justice and accountability has meant that past judicial panels including those set up to investigate mass extrajudicial killings in other contexts made no progress toward ending impunity for security force abuses.
Adding her input, Mrs Serah Ibrahim, a coordinator of the EndSARS Survivors’ Group, made up of victims of the Lekki Toll Gate incident and their families, told Human Rights Watch that she and other members of the group including those who are managing serious injuries from the shooting are following up with the Lagos state government officials.
She said they want to see justice done and compensation paid but it appears futile because state government officials have told them it is not up to them to determine what happens next.
“They don’t want to fish out [identify] the people who shot at us and they also do not want to pay compensation for what happened because it will be an admission of guilt,” she said.
“Sometimes I just want to move on because pursuing justice in Nigeria seems pointless, but I can’t because I know what happened and the impact it has had on the lives of victims and their families,” Mrs Ibrahim added
Following the submission of the Lagos judicial panel report to Governor Sanwolu, he set up another committee to review the contents and come up with a white paper to chart the way forward. The white paper, released in November 2021, rejected the panel’s key findings, including the death toll of nine, stating that there were substantial inconsistencies and a lack of adequate evidence to back the claim.
But the Lagos state government said it fully or partially accepted all but one of the panel’s recommendations that relate to its own authority and indicated that it would forward other recommendations to the appropriate authorities, including the federal government, the Police Service Commission, Nigeria Police Force, and the Nigerian Army.
The federal government through the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed, rejected the findings and recommendations of the panel though, and maintained the position it had taken since the incident occurred that reports of shooting and killing by security forces at the Lekki Toll Gate were “fake news.”
Justice and accountability should not be determined by the views of individual government ministers or officials but should rather be guaranteed for all Nigerians through independent systems and authorities mandated to investigate and act on allegations of abuses, Human Rights Watch said.
Within the Nigeria police force, there are several units including the X-Squad Unit of the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID) and the Provost Department, which are responsible for investigating offences by officers and recommending disciplinary actions and criminal prosecution where applicable. The Police Service Commission, which provides external oversight, also has the authority to investigate complaints and to mandate disciplinary actions, including dismissal, it added.
Similarly, the military police can investigate the actions of army officers implicated directly or indirectly in the abuses against protesters. An internal board of inquiry or regimental inquiry can also be set up to uncover the facts around their involvement and a court-martial process can be convened to discipline officers who engage in misconduct and ensure accountability,’ the group noted.
The executive secretary of Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission, Mr Tony Ojukwu, told Human Rights Watch that it is because of the failure of the various internal systems for accountability to adequately do their jobs over the years that police and military officers have continued to act with impunity.
“Nigerian authorities have evaded their responsibilities to identify, discipline, and prosecute security officers involved in abuses.
“Unless this changes, violence by security forces against ordinary citizens will continue,” Mr Ewang added.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has raised $2 billion via a syndicated loan, with considerable participation from Asian and European banks seeking to capitalise on growing demand for infrastructure projects across the continent.
Barclays Bank, Commerzbank, First Abu Dhabi Bank PJSC, and FirstRand Bank led the debt facility. Other participating lenders include Export-Import Bank of India, Bank of Communications, Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and Industrial Bank of Korea, among others.
Each region accounted for about 35 per cent of the creditors, according to a statement by AFC.
AFC chief executive, Mr Samaila Zubairu, said the money would enable more master planning around infrastructure and industrial planning for economies, regions and economic corridors across the continent.
According to Mr Zubairu, the lender is also in discussions to invest in a proposed oil refinery to be built by billionaire Aliko Dangote in East Africa.
The financer initially sought $1.6 billion via the facility but scaled it up to $2 billion amid strong demand from Asian financial institutions.
“In this round, we saw a lot more of Asian banks. We have banks from China, Hong Kong, and Korea. They are a lot more engaged,” he said.
Mr Zubairu said the loan underscored AFC’s strong track record, pointing to its financing for projects including Nigeria’s 650,000 barrels per day Dangote oil refinery and Africa’s largest copper smelter in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
“There’s a lot more confidence, a lot more partners,” Mr Zubairu said of those participating in the loan. “We are constantly demonstrating that Africa is executing. Africa is building.”
“The capital that we raise goes into African infrastructure build out, African industrialisation build up – essentially creating jobs for Africans,” Mr Zubairu said.
The AFC chief said the lender is also working to reform capital rules and create structures that will allow more African money to stay on the continent and be invested in crucial infrastructure projects.
AFC, founded in 2007, has assets surpassing $19 billion and counts 48 African countries as members.
In January, the infrastructure-focused multilateral lender secured an A rating from S&P. It has an A3 rating from Moody’s, an AAAspc rating from S&P Ratings (China) and an A+ rating from the Japan Credit Rating Agency.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) has ordered electricity distribution companies (DisCos) to pay 20 per cent compensation to eligible Band A customers who were affected by power shortfalls between February and March 2026.
In Directive No. NERC/2026/002, the commission said, generation constraints, which were largely caused by inadequate gas supply and vandalism of gas and transmission infrastructure, prevented DisCos from meeting committed service levels for some Band A feeders.
NERC Mandated that for feeders that supplied less than 18 hours per day, affected Band A feeders will not be downgraded during the covered period, and eligible customers will receive special compensation equal to 20 per cent of approved energy figures for February 2026.
However, for Band A feeders that recorded an average daily supply of between 18 and 20 hours, the existing compensation framework under Addendum No. NERC/2024/003 applies to both Maximum Demand (MD) and Non-Maximum Demand (Non-MD) customers.
MD customers are high-consumption users who typically have their own dedicated transformer and operate with a load of 45 kVA and above; they include large residential estates, banks, hotels, supermarkets, industrial facilities and oil and gas complexes.
Non-MD customers do not have a dedicated transformer and instead share public transformers, and they generally consume less, often below 45–50 kVA.
For Non-MD customers, compensation is set at 20 per cent of the approved February 2026 energy cap applicable to the affected feeder.
For MD customers, compensation is 20 per cent of the average energy billed per MD customer in February 2026.
According to NERC, prepaid customers will receive their compensation as token credits, while postpaid customers will receive bill adjustments.
The commission said that compensation for February must be completed by 31 May 2026, while compensation for March must be completed by 30 June 2026.
The commission prohibited Distribution companies from using compensation credits to offset any existing customer debt, adding that customers must be clearly informed of the value and period of the compensation they receive.
NERC said it will monitor implementation and verify compliance to ensure all eligible customers receive what they are due.
The commission reaffirmed its commitment to protecting electricity consumers while ensuring the stability and sustainability of the electricity market.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has confirmed the destruction of six transmission towers along the Apir–Lafia 330kV line in Nasarawa State, causing significant disruption to electricity supply in parts of the country.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, TCN spokesperson, Mrs Ndidi Mbah, said the incident occurred on May 30 at about 1:15 a.m. during a heavy downpour.
She explained that the transmission line initially tripped, prompting operators to attempt a trial reclosure of Line II at about 2:08 a.m., but the effort failed.
A subsequent inspection of the transmission corridor, however, revealed extensive damage to key components of towers T125 to T130, confirming that the infrastructure had been vandalised.
“The tripping of the lines prompted a physical line trace to determine the fault, which revealed damage to critical components of towers T125 to T130, confirming vandalism on the affected sections of the transmission corridor,” Mbah said.
The incident has forced both Apir–Lafia 330kV Transmission Lines I and II out of service pending the reconstruction of the damaged towers.
TCN said its engineers have been deployed to the site to assess the extent of the damage and determine the materials required to restore normal transmission along the corridor.
As an interim measure, the Lafia 330kV Transmission Station is being supplied through an alternative line to minimise the impact on electricity consumers within the franchise areas of Abuja Electricity Distribution Company (AEDC) and Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC).
The company condemned the persistent vandalism of power infrastructure, warning that such acts undermine investments in the electricity sector and threaten the stability of the national grid.
It also urged residents and host communities to remain vigilant and report suspicious activities around transmission installations to security agencies or the nearest TCN office.
TCN stressed that safeguarding critical national infrastructure requires collective responsibility to ensure a reliable and uninterrupted electricity supply nationwide.
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