PUNCH
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.
