Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa, CAPPA has called on the Federal and Lagos State Governments to apologise publicly for the 2020 #EndSARS crackdown, prosecute officers implicated in abuses and provide reparations to victims and their families.
The organisation made the demands on the sixth anniversary of the October 20, 2020, shootings at the Lekki Toll Gate, insisting that official acknowledgement, justice and comprehensive police reforms were necessary to address the legacy of the protests.
CAPPA also urged political parties and aspirants to make accountability for #EndSARS and police reform key commitments ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The protests began as a nationwide campaign against police brutality, particularly abuses associated with the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), but escalated into a broader demand for accountability and respect for human rights.
Zikora Ibeh, CAPPA’s Assistant Executive Director, said the government must accept responsibility for abuses, acknowledge victims’ suffering and ensure that those responsible are brought to justice.
CAPPA cited the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry’s 309-page report, which described the Lekki incident as a “massacre in context” and implicated the Nigerian Army and police in deaths and serious injuries among protesters.
The organisation criticised the Federal Government’s rejection of the panel’s findings and the Lagos State Government’s White Paper disputing aspects of its conclusions.
It also called for full implementation of a July 2024 judgment by the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice, which found Nigeria liable for violating protesters’ rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association, as well as freedom from torture.
The court ordered compensation for victims and fresh, independent investigations, according to CAPPA.
The organisation further demanded accountability for the death of 20-year-old journalist Pelumi Onifade, who was arrested by Lagos State Task Force personnel on October 24, 2020, while covering protest-related events at the Ministry of Agriculture Abattoir complex in Oko-Oba, Agege.
CAPPA said Onifade’s autopsy confirmed that he died from a gunshot wound to his lower torso, but the findings were not formally presented until proceedings before a coroner’s court in 2026.
It called for the conclusion of criminal proceedings and prosecution of personnel found responsible for his death.
The group also referred to its investigative publication, Lies and the Hail of Bullets: #EndSARS: The Story of Lekki Shootings by Survivors, which documents accounts of the shootings and their impact on victims, families and communities.
Warning that the conditions that fuelled #EndSARS remained unresolved, CAPPA pointed to the August 2024 #EndBadGovernance protests, during which security forces used tear gas and carried out arrests, while at least 24 people were reported killed across the country.
Ibeh said peaceful protest and freedom of expression remained essential democratic rights, warning that government policies that deepen hardship must not be accompanied by violence against citizens who demand change.
CAPPA also cited alleged abuses at Tiger Base, the Anti-Kidnapping Unit of the Imo State Police Command in Owerri, including torture, extrajudicial killings, extortion and prolonged arbitrary detention, as evidence of persistent concerns over police accountability.
On proposals to establish state police, the organisation warned that decentralising policing would not resolve the crisis without safeguards against abuse and impunity. It called for clear controls on the use of force, independent investigations into misconduct and criminal consequences for officers found culpable.
Among its recommendations, CAPPA urged the government to establish a national programme of acknowledgement, justice and reparations in consultation with survivors, victims’ families, civil society organisations, media-rights groups and the National Human Rights Commission.
The programme, it said, should include prosecution of implicated officers, payment of outstanding compensation, and sustained medical and psychological support for survivors.
The organisation also called for the withdrawal of outstanding charges against people prosecuted solely for participating in peaceful protests, the designation of the Lekki Toll Gate as a national historic memorial and mandatory use of body-worn cameras by frontline police officers.
It said camera footage should be securely stored and independently supervised, with penalties for deliberate deactivation or tampering, while allegations of misconduct should be investigated transparently.