Lagos govt rejects lawyer’s request for release of CCTV footage on Lekki shooting

The Lagos State government on Friday rejected a request for the release of the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) footage of last month’s shooting of #EndSARS protesters in Lekki area of the state.

A human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, who invoked the Freedom of Information Act 2011, had last week demanded the release of the CCTV footage of the shooting by the state government.

He added that the release of the CCTV footage would be in the public interest.

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However, in a letter written by Deyemi Bamgbose on behalf of the state’s Attorney-General and dated November 3, 2020, the state government said it could not make the CCTV footage available because the FoI Act is a federal law and does not apply to states.

The government also cited the Court of Appeal judgment of 2018 to back its claim.

The letter read: “I am further directed to inform you that the laws of Lagos State do not include the Freedom of Information Act which is a federal law that is not applicable to the state. As such, your request cannot be granted.”

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