Dipo Olowookere
By Dipo Olowookere
One of the members of the judicial panel set up by the Lagos State government on police brutality and the infamous October 20, 2020, shooting at the Lekki Toll Gate, Ms Rinu Oduala, has stepped down.
The human rights activist announced her decision to quit the panel on Friday, citing insincerity on the part of the government as the rationale behind her action.
Ms Oduala, a prominent member of the #EndSARS campaign, said it was now obvious to her that the “government is only out to use us for performative actions.”
She said the decision of the five of the nine-member panel on February 6, 2021, to allow the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) to reclaim the toll gate when investigations were still ongoing was the last straw that broke the camel’s back.
The activist, who is one of the two representatives of the youth in the team, wondered why “commercial interests and vested interests” would be placed above “calls for justice,” pointing out that when this happens, “it calls into question the legitimacy and integrity of the entire affair and the impartiality of the proceedings.”
She submitted that, “Without a final panel report or actionable steps, we are returning to the status quo,” emphasising that “I refuse to be manipulated into gas-lighting the people and attaching my name to a rubberstamped and foregone conclusion.”
“My stand on the reopening on the toll gate is clear; the state government and the private organisation operating the toll have not been cleared of collusion with elements allegedly deployed by the federal government to target citizens on home soil during a time of peace, without provocation.
“Justice has not been served, and as a representative of the Nigerian citizenry, my only recourse is to stay the course of justice. What I will not do is be part of a cover-up,” she further said.
Ms Oduala said after her exit from the panel, she would be spending “the next few months reconnecting with these people (victims), documenting their stories, and empowering the children and family of the deceased SARS victims who are not alive to fulfil their dreams.”
