The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has reacted to the leaked #EndSARS report on the killing of peaceful protesters by Nigeria’s security agencies at Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020.
In a statement issued by the group through its spokesperson Ishaq Akintola spokesperson, the group noted that the report was laughable, full of loopholes, and lacked credibility.
The group said: “In the wake of a Tsunami of rejections which greeted the leaked report of the #EndSARS report, we of the Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), having critically scrutinized the report with the aid of experts hereby affirm that the said report is full of loopholes, discrepancies, half-truths, irregularities and inconsistencies too many to mention.
“For the sake of clarity, we assert that life is sacred and to that extent, we abhor the killing of protesters even if it is just one person. But that does not give a panel the excuse to come up with concocted figures from resurrected ghosts or the license to endorse criminality. #EndSARS panel suffers from desertification of credibility.
“The wordings of the report are replete with terminological inexactitude. Exempli gratia, the word ‘massacre’ was used to describe the so-called killing of a total of nine people; whereas ‘massacre’ is used for the killing of tens, hundreds, and thousands of people. This is symptomatic of a desperation to indict at all cost.
“Nigerians were made to suffer the trauma of mathematical juggling from DJ Switch’s 78 bodies to CNN’s 56, BBC’s 38 and the feminists’ paltry figure of 23 which the panel pruned down to nine (9) bodies. But analysts have even reduced the figure to three or four; after establishing prima facie cases of improper evaluation of evidence. This report cannot stand the test of time.
“Half names were given without addresses while no relations have turned up to claim bodies. Yet the panel recommends payment of compensation to the non-existing families. People who died long ago were listed as victims of the Lekki shooting. These are some of the reasons the panel’s recommendations are laughable, irrational, and unrealistic. A kindergarten lawyer will tear the panel’s report into shreds within minutes.
“We call on the global community to patiently peruse the leaked report; and subject it to critical analysis before jumping to conclusions. There is no point asking the Nigerian government; to implement recommendations reached per in curiam (in manifest error).
“The lack of balance in the report is most glaring; when it is realised that none of those who participated in the destruction of public properties were recommended for sanction. It is too one-sided.”
