Chief of Defence Staff faults EndSARS Panel report

Leo Irabor: The new Chief of Defence Staff

The Nigeria Armed Forces has offered a divergent opinion from the popular commendation received by the reports of the EndSARS Panel, inaugurated last year, by the Lagos State Government. The Armed Forces faulted the procedure for release of the report.
The panel, led by Justice Doris Okuwobi submitted it’s report to the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwoolu at the State House on Monday. The White Paper on the report is being awaited.
Notable individuals, groups and the international community have been pouring encomiums on the panelists for doing a good job. But General Lucky Irabor, the Chief of Defence Staff disagreed, faulting the manner of its release.
Irabor said he could not, at the moment, comment on the content of the document, because he had not seen the official report and could not confirm the authenticity of the leaked one.
Punch reports that the CDS stated this during a courtesy visit to the Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, in Benin City on Tuesday.
“I am sure those of you in the media must have seen a report that was released through, in my view, a wrong channel, that is making the rounds in the social media. Whether it is a true report, I can’t tell.
“But I’d like to indicate that the normal procedure is to have such a report submitted to the convening authority. Then, there will be a White Paper that will be presented, based on which one can make informed comments.”
Irabor, however, maintained the Nigerian military was professional and remained committed to its constitutional mandate.
He added, “So, we will not at this point think that Nigerians should make disparaging remarks regarding the Armed Forces of Nigeria in the sense that we are professional. If there are issues, of course, we will address them within the ambit of the provisions of the law.
“It will not be right to disparage the men and women, who have worked so hard to ensure that the territorial integrity of this nation is kept intact.”