Despite claims that lights were switched off, CCTV cameras disconnected, and the discovery of a camera, days after the fact by former Lagos Governor, and sitting Minister of Works, Babatunde Fashola, the Management of the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) on Friday told the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry for Restitution for Victims of SARS and related abuses and Other Matters that the footage of the Oct. 20 shootings of the #EndSARS protesters by the Nigerian Army is available.
Already, the alleged discovery of a camera by Fashola drew the criticism of human rights lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa SAN, who questioned the integrity of the discovery after a judicial panel was already in place.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Mr Gbolahan Agboluwaje, the Head of the Legal Department of LCC, made the revelation after Mr Abayomi Omomuwa, the Managing Director of LCC had been sworn-in to give evidence before the panel.
Agboluwaje said that the LCC received a summons from the panel on Wednesday, Oct. 28, to appear before it and was also ordered to present the Oct. 20 footage, an investigation report and any other document.
“We have the footage. We do not have an investigation report because we know that investigations are ongoing and we have not been able to provide any document,” he said.
He, however, noted that the LCC was prepared to air the footage before the panel and that there are hours of recordings on the CCTV footage.
“We had a very short notice and we brought what we were able to lay our hands on,” he said.
Agboluwaje told the panel that due to the short notice of the summoning, the Managing Director (MD) of LCC, Mr Omomuwa, would not be able to testify because the company was yet to hire an external counsel to represent the MD.
Mr Abiodun Owonikoko (SAN) announced his appearance as the counsel representing the Lagos State Government.
Responding, the Chairman of the nine-man panel, Justice Doris Okuwobi (Rtd), granted Agboluwaje’s request for a short adjournment.
Justice Okuwobi noted that the programme of the day for the panel was to visit the locus (scene of the Lekki Shooting) and to have proceedings based on their findings from the visit.
“We were initially to take note of what we see at the locus and today’s proceedings was to be subsequent to what we see there.
“The panel will arise very shortly to visit the locus. The panel noted that it is required of the witness to have a counsel of his choice. We will not take the proceedings of the visit of the locus until then,” she said.
NAN reports that as at the time of filing this report, the panel had briefly risen to visit and inspect the Lekki Toll Plaza, the scene of the Oct. 20 shooting.
The panel is expected to reconvene to hear other petitions after its return from the visit to the tollgate.
▪︎ Additional reports by NAN