November 16, (THEWILL) – The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack his Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.
The group said Mohammed should be sacked for lying to Nigerians and the world.
The demand followed the submission of a final report of Inquiry into the Lekki incident.
The report released Monday indicted the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigerian Army of killing defenceless youths protesting police brutality in Nigeria.
The 309-page report detailed how the Army and Police disregarded rules of engagement during the protest
Mohammed had in a series of press conferences claimed that there is no evidence to show that any protester was killed at the Lekki tollgate on October 20, 2020.
He also faulted the claim by Amnesty International that no fewer than 12 protesters were killed in Lagos State by security operatives during the EndSARS protest. He described the claim as a ‘phantom’ and even made the CNN to retract its report.
The group recalled that Mohammed also faulted the claim by Amnesty International that no fewer than 12 protesters were killed in Lagos State by security operatives during the #EndSARS protest.
HURIWA, in a press statement on Tuesday, called for the dismissal, arrest and trial of Mohammed for his egregious falsehood which has now been contradicted by a judicial panel of investigation in Lagos.
The statement read, “As there has emerged undisputed evidence that indeed there was systematic annihilation of many civilian protesters in Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos State last October, we are asking the President Muhammadu Buhari as a father of all to order the arrest and prosecution of his minister of information, Lai Mohammed for committing a grave and heartless offence that is equivalent to the denial of the Holocaust of the 6 million Jews by Adolf Hitler which is punishable by nearly half a century of incarceration.
“HURIWA is also commending the brave members and Chairperson of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on the #ENDSARS protests especially the circumstances surrounding the massive cases of extrajudicial killings by the Army and armed police when these armed forces opened fire with lethal weapons targeted at the unarmed protesters.
“The rights group asked the President not to sweep the lawlessness of the security agencies under the carpet just as it said if the President allows his information minister to get away with the impunity of denying the massacre that happened before the eyes of the world captured live on video cameras, then he will be remembered long after he has retired from public office as a dictator who oversaw the genocide of young protesters and the generations unborn will never forgive him for this.”
