A social media user, Princess Banke Oniru, has alleged that some coordinators of the protest against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force shared millions of naira severally.
Nigerians attracted global attention after they took to the streets across the country in late 2020 protest to call for the disbandment of SARS, accused of extrajudicial killings, extortion, and torture.
At the twilight of the protest in October 2020, unarmed protesters waving Nigerian flags were allegedly killed after soldiers and police invaded the Lekki Tollgate, the main convergence point of the protest in Lagos State.
While there had been several controversies around the funds generated for the protest, with Feminist Coalition (FEMCO) facing public scrutiny over the group’s alleged inability to properly account for the funds received, some details emerged on Sunday about how funds from the government were allegedly shared by acclaimed coordinators of the protest.
Taking to his X account on Sunday, Oniru explained that while initial funds offered by the Lagos State Government were rejected, coordinators later shared several millions of money from the government.
She claimed she initially refused the largesse but later asked her assistant to pick it from a popular social commentator, Sarah Ibrahim, and she (Oniru) shared the money accrued to her as giveaways.
Oniru, with tweets from the handle @HRH_bankeoniru on X, wrote, “Following the EndSARS unrest, and during the panel of inquiry, the Lagos State Government’s initial funding offer was met with resistance.
“@sarahibrahim and associates then consulted Mr. Femi Falana regarding the substantial sum proposed for advisory purposes. Despite Mr. Falana’s counsel to accept the funds as a gift, I deemed it incongruous to accept financial compensation from those we were opposing, fearing it may undermine our integrity.
“The first funds Sarah called me to pick up was N1.5m. The second was N1m. I have proofs. Messages to back it up. The #endsars coordinators shared millions of money severally. Going back and forth to pick a Ghana must-go filled with cash at Alausa Ikeja.
“On two separate occasions, I entrusted my personal assistant to collect money from Sarah, ensuring she took photographs for evidentiary purposes. Afterward, I shared images of the funds received on EndSARS United and Competent Nigerians platforms for public dissemination as giveaways. Adeshina Ademola Ogunlana of blessed memories was the only lawyer that stood genuinely for the endsars. He can never be bought.”
‘Lagos offered N100 million’
But countering the claim, Ibrahim explained that Oniru displayed “severe ingeniousness” in her allegations, adding that though the Lagos State Government reached out to her and offered N100 million, she never accepted the offer.
Tweeting from @TheSerahIbrahim, Ibrahim in a lengthy post on X, said that after consulting her lawyers, she asked the government to use the funds in supporting Lekki Toll Gate victims’ families, and those who are injured.
She wrote, “So yes, I was reached by the Lagos State Government to offer N100 million. A meeting they were trying to have for months but I kept refusing because I was rightfully pissed at them.
“Finally, I attended one of the meetings after speaking with my lawyer Fusika SAN, who then took me to also consult jointly with Falana SAN, on what to do. At one of the meetings, I attended with @akintollgate where one of Sanwo Olu’s commissioners apologised for what happened at the Toll Gate and wanted us to make amends.
“He spoke like a father, he was nice and very understanding and wanted us to make peace with the govt, and move on. Truthfully, his words calmed me. After all was said and blame passed back and forth, he stated there was a financial offer to us to cover for all we must have spent and gone through during the period, an amount of N100 million. Immediately I refused, I didn’t want to involve myself with it. And I spoke with Akin who agreed with my thought on it. I only requested that prosthetics be done for those who were amputated so that we can help them move around.”
She claimed that upon rejecting the monetary offer, she started getting calls from families of victims and she had to change her stance.
“So after, I started getting calls from the victims, I was pissed. I went to the lawyers and told them what was happening. The govt informed me that the money was in cash and it was to be given to me, that I should come and pick it up and do with it what I wish. So speaking to Falana SAN, he then said if the govt is remorseful and wants to finally help those they shot and killed at the toll gate, let me not block it but allow it to happen.
“I told Falana SAN that I personally did not want anything to do with the money and I did not want to go pick it up like the govt wanted, and I wanted to stay out of it, and he immediately right there and then, wrote a letter for me and told me to give to the commissioner stating that the govt should do it the right way. The govt stated that the money was in two ranches of N50 million each and so there were two letters one stating N50 million and another stating the total of N100 million.
“I insisted that the govt should just give out the compensations as instructed by the panel, rather than this ‘backyard assistance’ like my dad called it.”
Meanwhile, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s spokesman, Gboyega Akosile, was yet to respond to a WhatsApp message on Monday morning seeking the government’s reaction to the alleged funds paid to victims’ families and protest coordinators.
Credit: The Punch
