Vendor Positive Change Initiative (VPCI) has called on the Lagos State judicial panel on the #EndSARS protest in Nigeria to summon all promoters of misinformation.
VPCI’s Southwest Coordinator, Gbolahan Bakare, noted in a petition that the invitation was necessary as the spread of misinformation (fake news) fueled civil unrest during the protest.
Thugs were reported to have taken advantage of the protest against police brutality and extrajudicial killings, with police accusing people ‘posing’ as protesters of looting weapons, and torching police buildings.
Also, #EndSARS protesters were shot by soldiers in the Lekki area of Lagos on 20 October, with at least seven people reportedly killed and many others injured.
The security operatives stormed Lekki hours after Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu imposed a curfew in the state.
The judicial panel, led by retired Justice Doris Okuwobi, was set up by the Lagos government to investigate the Lekki shooting.
‘We request that your panel extend an invitation to all persons and organisations who promoted fake news and falsehood in relation to the alleged and unsubstantiated killing of #EndSARS protesters at Lekki tollgate in Lagos State’, the petition read.
‘It is our considered opinion that the activities of fake news promoters regarding the Lekki incident put to risk the stability of the Nigerian nation and specifically threaten our collective security as citizens.
‘We, therefore, seek that your panel promotes fairness in this matter by extending an invitation to all those who have made varying degrees of inciting claims regarding what transpired at the Lekki tollgate on Tuesday, [20] October, 2020’.
Source: The Eagle Online
Photo source: Babatunde Sanwo-Olu