The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, on Wednesday hailed the police and the Nigerian Army for the role they played in the #EndSARS protests last year, even as he maintained that the incident at the Lekki toll plaza last year was a phantom massacre with no bodies.
He said this while in a press conference in Abuja.
It was reported and seen that protesters gathered at several major cities in the country to protest in commemoration of the #ENDSARS.
He said, “The Federal Government remains proud of the security agencies for acting professionally and showing utmost restraint all through the #EndSARS protest and the ensuing violence, an action that saved lives and properties.
“The six soldiers and 37 policemen who died during the EndSARS protests are human beings with families, even though the human rights organisations and CNN simply ignored their deaths, choosing instead to trumpet a phantom massacre.”
He added: “Out of the 28 states, 11 states (Abia, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Plateau, and Rivers) have submitted their final reports to council”,
Each state, in collaboration with the Federal Government, shall establish modalities for the settlement of all monetary compensations awarded by the panels. Already, as resolved by NEC, a number of states have set up Victims Compensation Funds, from which several victims have already received payments of sums awarded to them by the panels.
While fielding questions from journalists, Mohammed argued that police reforms would be gradual and could not be achieved overnight.
He also said the police do a lot of good in society which is hardly reported by the media.