Segun Awosanya aka Segalink who is an #EndSARS campaigner and member of the Lagos state judicial panel on Lekki toll gate shootings, has given an explanation as to why he supported the handing over of the Lekki Toll plaza to the Lekki Concession Company (LCC) who will, in turn, reopen the tollgates.
Operations at the tollgates were closed in October 2020 after the gunshot incident. EndSARS protesters had gathered at the tollgate to demand an end to police brutality and bad governance when military men came in and fired shots. While the military insists they fired blank bullets, eyewitnesses claim they fired live ammunition.
A doctor from Reddington hospital Lagos testified before the panel where he stated that they treated so many wounded victims from the incident on the night of October 2020.
On Saturday, February 6, the Justice Doris Okwuobi-led panel of inquiry set up by the Lagos state government to investigate incidents of police brutality and the October 2020 incident, gave the LCC permission to take over possession of the toll gate.
Five members of the panel including Segalink supported the ruling for the repossession of the Lekki tollgate while Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa Adegboruwa, a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN), also a member of the panel, joined some members of the panel, especially the youth representatives, to give a dissenting opinion on the ruling after its sitting.
Nigerians took to their Twitter handle to drag Segalinks for supporting the move to reopen the tollgate.
Reacting via his Twitter handle, Segalinks averred that it is not logical to shut down the Lekki toll gate. According to him, since the panel’s forensic team has completed work at the site, there is no need to lock down the tollgate.
According to him, those attacking him are being used.
He wrote:
“It is futile making logical sense when emotions are running wild. Where in the world do you deploy sentiments & injustice to obtain justice? Is the panel an opinion panel or a judicial panel? Have you taken out time to read the ruling? Did this nullify the cases? Is this the end?”
“Those manipulating you presents you with someone to hate and you march on like zombies to throw tantrums. How does granting access for assessment of damage & initiating repairs a vote against the people when the panel’s forensic team are done at the site? Why lock it down?
“How many scientists do you find staying perpetually by the microscope without leaving to work on his findings? Recall that people work in the establishment too? We all use that road. Imaging locking the whole road under claims of an ongoing investigation without the need to visit
“There are always other routes to ensure justice without becoming the demons we fight. We need not make life harder for others just to prove a point. Everyone is entitled to fairness, equity & presumption of innocence until proven guilty. Investigation is done, cases are ongoing.
“Imagine shutting down police and Army in the name of an ongoing investigation. This to me is not in the spirit of justice. Read the ruling and if it errs on the ground of Law, Justice and Equity then we can look into that. Thus, far there’s no such claim.
“Who will you call when armed robbers strikes after shutting down those instituted to curb this due to claims of investigation especially when it can work concurrently with their operation? Think deeply about those misleading you to think you have been betrayed. You’re being used.
“Think for a bit if we agreed with the obviously biased group seeking to use the panel to settle an old score with LCC, you don’t think LCC will appeal such decision and still take back their property having established that we no longer have anything to do there?
“Where does that leave the cases of alleged victim before the panel? Do you ever think any institution of state will ever appear or honor the summons of a tainted panel? Think while it is still legal. Justice must be fair to all. I have no personal interest in this.”
His tweets:
