How #EndSARS Coordinators Shared Millions – Beneficiary

A social media user, Princess Banke Oniru, has alleged that some coordinators of the protest against the Nigeria Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad shared millions of naira separately.

Nigerians attracted global attention after taking to the streets across the country in late 2020 to protest to call for the dissolution of SARS, accused of extrajudicial killings, extortion and torture.

At the twilight of the protest in October 2020, unarmed protesters waving Nigerian flags were reported to have been killed after soldiers and police stormed the Lekki Tollgate, the main convergence point of the protest in Lagos State.

Although there had been several controversies surrounding the funds generated for the protest, with the Feminist Coalition (FEMCO) facing public criticism over the group’s alleged inability to properly account for the funds received, some details emerged on Sunday about how the government’s funds were allegedly shared. by acclaimed protest coordinators

On Sunday, Oniru explained on his

She claimed that she initially refused the largesse but later asked her assistant to choose it from a popular social commentator, Sarah Ibrahim and she (Oniru) shared her due money as giveaways.

Oniru, tweeting @HRH_bankeoniru on

“@sarahibrahim and associates subsequently consulted Mr Femi Falana regarding the substantial amount proposed for advisory purposes. Despite Mr. Falana’s advice to accept the money as a gift, I found it preposterous to accept financial compensation from those we oppose, for fear that it could undermine our integrity.

“The first money Sarah called me to collect was N1.5 million. The second was N1m. I have proof. Messages to back it up. The #endsars coordinators individually shared millions of money. Going back and forth to pick out a Ghana must-go full of cash at Alausa Ikeja.

“On two separate occasions I instructed my personal assistant to collect money from Sarah and arrange for her to take photographs for evidence purposes. I then shared images of the funds received on EndSARS United and Competent Nigerians platforms for public circulation as giveaways. Adeshina Ademola Ogunlana, of blessed memories, was the only lawyer who honestly stood for the endars. It is never for sale.”

‘Lagos offered N100 million’

But defying the allegation, Ibrahim explained that Oniru showed “severe ingenuity” in her allegations, adding that although the Lagos State Government contacted her and offered N100 million, she never accepted the offer.

In a tweet from @TheSerahIbrahim, Ibrahim in a lengthy post on

She wrote: “So yes, I was reached by Lagos State Government to offer N100 million. A meeting they had been aiming for for months, but I kept refusing because I was rightfully angry with them.

“I finally attended one of the meetings after speaking with my lawyer Fusika SAN,

who then took me to consult with Falana SAN about what to do. I attended one of the meetings with @akintollgate where one of the Sanwo Olu commissioners apologized for what happened at the tollgate and wanted us to make amends.

“He spoke like a father, he was kind and very understanding and wanted us to make peace with the government and move on. Honestly, his words calmed me down. After all was said and the debt was passed back and forth, he said a financial offer was made to us to cover whatever we must have spent and gone through during the period, an amount of N100 million. I immediately refused, I didn’t want to interfere. And I talked to Akin, who agreed with my thoughts on it. I just asked for prosthetics to be made for those who are amputees so that we can help them get around.”

She claimed that after she rejected the money offer, she received calls from victims’ families and had to change her position.

“So after I started getting calls from the victims, I was angry. I went to the lawyers and told them what was going on. The government told me that the money was cash and that it had to be given to me, that I had to come and collect it and do with it what I wanted. So when he spoke to Falana SAN, he then said that if the government repents and wants to finally help those they shot and killed at the toll gate, then let me not block it, let it happen.

“I told Falana SAN that I personally did not want to have anything to do with the money and that I did not want to go and collect it as the government wanted, and I wanted to stay out of it, and he immediately wrote on the spot: a letter for me and said that I had to give this to the commissioner, stating that the government had to do it the right way. The government stated that the money was in two farms of N50 million each and thus there were two letters, one stating N50 million and another stating the total of N100 million.

“I insisted that the government should simply hand out the compensations as ordered by the panel, instead of this ‘backyard aid’ as my father called it.”

Meanwhile, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s spokesperson, Gboyega Akosile, was yet to respond to a WhatsApp message on Monday morning seeking the government’s response to the alleged funds paid to the families of the victims and protest coordinators.