Lagos under fire over plans for mass burial of 2020 protest victims

Lagos state government came under fire on Monday over plans for a mass burial of more than 100 people killed during Nigeria's 2020 anti-police brutality rallies, sparking renewed outrage over a crackdown on protesters and calls for an investigation.

The youth-led #EndSARS protests were the largest anti-government demonstrations in Nigeria's modern history, but ended in repression by security forces and bitter disputes over whether some victims were shot by troops.

Lagos state government and the armed forces always denied troops opened fire with live rounds at Lagos city's Lekki Tollgate, the epicentre of the protests, but an independent panel ruled there was a "massacre" of unarmed protesters there.

Rights group Amnesty says at least 10 people were shot dead by security forces on October 20, 2020 at the tollgate, while more were killed in rioting and violence that broke out elsewhere in Lagos city and state.

In a statement late Sunday, the Lagos State health ministry said 103 victims whose bodies have been held in Lagos morgues for three years and were still not claimed by family will soon be given a mass burial.

It said bodies were picked up in a dozen areas around Lagos state, but denied any were collected at Lekki, after a copy of the burial plan was leaked by local media.

"For the avoidance of doubt, no body was retrieved from the Lekki Toll Gate incident," the statement said.

The ministry statement was the first time the government has admitted such a large number of people died following the riots.

But the repeated denial of any deaths at the Lekki sparked criticism from those who took part, and raised questions about why Lagos state had not revealed the number of victims for three years.

"They asked us,'where are the bodies?' Yet, the bodies were with them all along," tweeted activist Rinu Oduala.

'Appalling'

Amnesty International called for a transparent coroners investigation and autopsies of the 103 victims to publish their identities and how they died.

"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," the rights group said.

Representatives of the victims also questioned the Lagos state government again rejecting the panel's findings about the Lekki incident.

"The report of the panel was emphatic, there was a massacre at Lekki," Dele Farotimi, one of the lawyers for victims told Arise TV.

"The facts are not in dispute."

The #EndSARS protests erupted initially against police abuses, with the rallying name referencing the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), which was later disbanded.

The demonstrations spiralled into a broader protest to demand better governance and rights in Africa's most populous country and largest economy.

Demonstrators said people were shot dead when security forces opened fire on peaceful protesters at the Lekki. But the army said only blank rounds were used to break up a crowd that was defying a curfew.

The investigative panel set up by Lagos state government concluded that the armed forces shot and killed unarmed protesters in what could be considered a "massacre", according to a leaked copy of the report.