Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has revealed that N420million had been paid to victims of endSARS protest in the state, even as he dismissed the claim of nine persons killed in the incident of 20th of October, 2020 at Lekki-Toll Gate as contained in the leaked Report of the Justice Doris Okuwobi led State Judicial Panel
Sanwo-Olu while presenting a white paper on the panel's report on Tuesday in Lagos, said that the state demonstrated more committment to reformation of police and justice system than any other states in Nigeria
"I can boldly say that no State took the advocacy for police reforms and justice in the face of documented brutality more seriously than we did in Lagos. We have so far paid N420million in compensation to victims of police brutality, in line with the recommendations of the panel", he stated
The governor who recalled how , he personally joined the protest at the Lekki Tollgate and Alausa, however said that any claimed must be verifiable
"This, in my view, is a moment that beckons us to define who and what we are as a people" , Sanwo-Olu stated
"To be a Centre of Excellence, we must be a Centre of Truth. To be a smart city, we first must be a just one. To be a prosperous state, we must establish ourselves as a peaceful entity. And to achieve the Greater Lagos of our dreams we must learn to live in harmony, even amidst inevitable disagreement"he urged
"In times like these, with anger and animosity too quick and fast at hand, it is easy to hide behind our own prejudices, treating them as deeper truths instead of the superficial lies they are", the governor insisted
"It is far too easy to take sides and choose emotion over fact, even when the truth is to be found in shades of nuance. It is easy to choose darkness over light; to take perverse delight in playing unhelpful games of cynicism and suspicion; to cling to beliefs that do not carry the weight of verifiable evidence", he added
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