The Chief of Defense Staff, General Lucky Irabor, has faulted the procedure adopted in the release of a document said to be the report of the Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry on police brutality.
The leaked report had indicted officers of the Nigerian Army for killing “unarmed helpless and defenseless protesters, without provocation or justification, while they were waving the Nigerian Flag and singing the National Anthem” at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020. The CDS however explained that he could not, at the moment, comment on the content of the document because he has not seen the official report.
General Irabor, who spoke after a courtesy visit to the Edo State Governor in Benin-City, maintained that the Nigerian armed forces are committed to their constitutional mandate and do not engage in ignoble acts. “I am sure those of you in the media must have seen a report that was released through, in my view, a wrong channel, that is making the rounds in the social media,” the CDS said.
“Whether it is a true report, I can’t tell. But I’d like to indicate that the normal procedure is to have such a report submitted to the convening authority. And then there will be a white paper that will be presented, based on which one can make informed comments.
