One of the ENDSARS Organisers, Sarah Ibrahim has disclosed that Lagos state government under the leadership of Governor Babajide Sanwoolu gave EndSARS victims the sum of N100 Million as compensation.
EndSARS was a massive movement of youths that protested against police brutality in October 2020. It however ended unfortunately with the disruption of the protest through the use of force by the government. Many reportedly died as a result of the use of force while several secured injuries.
Although the government didn’t claim responsibility and denied vehemently that deaths were recorded as a result of the protest, the organizers revealed that the government’s N100 Million gift was tagged as an apology for what happened during the protest and a move to make amends.
‘’So yes, I was reached by the Lagos State Government to offer 100 million naira. 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 lawyers SAN Fusika, who then took me to also consult jointly with SAN Falana on what to do. At one of the meetings, I attended with @akintollgate where one of Sanwo Olu’s commissioners apologized 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 blames passed back and forth, he stated there’s a financial offer to us to cover for all we must have spent and gone through during the period. An amount of 100 million naira.’’, said Serah Ibrahim.
Sarah Ibrahim revelation is coming after Banker Oniru, another organizer accused Femi Falana of receiving compensation offered by Lagos state government in 2022.
But according to Serah Ibrahim, she said Falana never get any money from the fund, and she also refused the money initially but the commissioners (unnamed) tried to convince her to get it months after the matter had died down.
‘’So I have kept this to myself since February of 2022, and not told anyone about it and even up until April when the govt continued reaching out to me, until sometime in May, I got a call from someone I thought I could trust who was a part of the group too, Dabira. We spoke about some issues and I mentioned to her that oh, I had a meeting with the govt oh and they offered money but we won’t take it, but I told them we would send demands like a memorial and other things. The next thing I knew, I started getting calls that day up until the end of that month from various victims telling me they need the money, and I am only refusing the money because I am well to do but they are in pains and suffering. Dabira reached out to them and told them about it and they started to blast my phone.’’
Serah Ibrahim revealed that even after the disbursement of the N100 Million funds, the government reached her again to compensate her for her works but she refused and instead, asked them to fix plastic surgery for those that needed it.
‘’So the govt reached out to me again that they wanted to thank me and asked why I refused to even accept any of the money, that if it was because of others, they can give me something privately, but I told them they should rather do prosthetics for the victims that were amputated at the toll gate with the money they want to give me, and to be fair to them, they did the prosthetics and even told LUTH to give them all necessary treatment. But that will not take away what they did on 20th of October 2020 and then denied it but came back door to try to rectify the damage.’’
