At the sitting of the Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for Victims of SARS-related abuses and other matters, on Saturday, February 6, 2021, panel members were split five in favour and four against, on the order directing the LCC to take possession of the Lekki tollgate.
While five members of the panel sat over the application of LCC to repossess the tollgate and listened to submissions from the LCC, Lagos State Government and #EndSARS protesters’ counsels, the other four members of the panel abstained from sitting, only to emerge from the inner chamber to read their dissenting judgement on the matter.
The four dissenting panel members were Ebun Olu- Adegboruwa, Olorunrinu Oduala, Temitope Majekodunmi and Patience Patrick Udoh, while those with the majority judgement of five were led by the panel chairman, Justice Doris Okuwobi (Rtd), Taiwo Lakanu DIG (Rtd.), Lucas Koyejo, Segun Awosanya and Mrs. Oluwatoyin Odusanya.
The action of the four dissenting panel members were disputed by Mr. Rotimi Seriki (SAN), counsel for LCC and Mr. Olukayode Enitan (SAN) counsel for Lagos State Government, who prevented Mr. Olu-Adegboruwa from reading his personal dissenting judgement as they accused him of being an interested party in the matter having sued the Lagos State Government over the Lekki tollgate in the past.
Their argument made Mr. Olu-Adegboruwa to step down from reading his dissenting opinion, following which a shouting match ensued.
The action of the dissenting panel members made the panel to adjourn all other cases that were slated for mention.
At this sitting, the panel granted approval for the return of tollgate to the control of Lekki Concession Company (LCC).
The LCC has been praying to the panel since December for a take over of the plaza for repair and insurance claims.
But in statement released shortly after the panel announcement, Rinu Oduala and Temitope Majekodunmi, the two youth representatives on the nine-man panel, said their views were not reflected in the panel ruling.
They disagreed with the approval saying such move would hinder the successful completion of ongoing investigation on the incident.
“The Youth Reps at the Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution for Victims of SARS related abuses & Lekki Toll Gate Incident will like to formally express our dissent to the Order allowing for the repossession of Lekki Toll Gate,” the statement reads.
“We’d like to remind the public this panel was set up on our 5 for 5 demands during the nationwide protests against police brutality. So any decision without considering the opinions of the Youth Reps reflected in the rulings will be in violation of rules setting up this Panel.
“We have made efforts to communicate our position on the application by LCC to take repossession of the Lekki Toll Gate to the Chairlady as required by the rules of the Panel but our dissent wasn’t reflected in the ruling.”
The youth representatives said their position is in line with panel’s obligation of ensuring impartiality “throughout hearings for victims and contribute to fair, effective, efficient conduct of its hearings and more importantly, for voices of victims not be silenced in the course of this assignment”.
The youth representatives explained that the LCC has refused to provide critical information meant for the completion of forensic report.
They demanded that the Lekki toll gate should remain shut and under the purview of the panel until full investigations and hearings are concluded.
Comments