Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, a lawyer who was a member of the Lagos Judicial Panel for SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters, has queried the intentions of the state government in the wake of the report’s publication.
Adegboruwa made this assertion via a statement he published on Tuesday, in Lagos State.
Even though the panel functioned under the Ministry of Justice and the Attorney-General, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), never tried to influence the decisions, Adegboruwa said, “the response of the same government to the outcome of the Panel’s activities is rather shocking.
“If ever the government had a preconceived idea of what happened at the Lekki Toll Gate, this was not disclosed to us at all.”
He stated that the members proceeded upon the premise that they were free to dig out the truth and nothing but the truth.
If judicial officers are given free hand to operate without undue interference, justice will come back to our land, impunity will cease and everyone will fall in line”, he added.
Nonetheless, he commended Sanwo-Olu for assembling men and women of integrity, many of whom he never met including Justice Okuwobi.
“The Chairperson is a no-nonsense and fearless judicial officer, who had demonstrated rare integrity on the Bench before she retired honourably.
“She recorded all proceedings of the Panel in longhand and had her own personal record and files for every petition.
“The other Panel members were people with vast experiences in human rights, civil society organisations, criminology, and indeed general law enforcement mechanisms.
“There were no preconceived notions or ideas but rather superiority of intellectual arguments based on rational convictions.”
