The Lagos State Government has postponed its planned mass burial of the 103 bodies recovered in the wake of the October 2020 #EndSARS protest.

The State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, disclosed this in a statement on Monday.

Mr Omotoso said the planned mass burial was suspended, following the controversy generated by the announcement in July.

Wakadaily reported on July that the Lagos State Government had, in a leaked memo dated July 19, 2023, resolved to conduct a mass burial for the 103 corpses. The memo also revealed that the government approved N61,285,000 for the burial of the victims.

However, human rights organisation, Amnesty International, and a group under the aegis of the Coalition of #EndSARS Protesters and Supporters asked the government to carry out transparent coroner inquest and autopsies on the 103 #EndSARS victims.

Speaking on Monday with the Punch, Gbenga Omotoso, said: “It is to allow more time for identification as suggested when it was disclosed that the government was planning a mass burial for them.

“Up till now, nobody has shown up to identify any of the corpses. But the government has decided to give people more time.”

He added that the planned burial would “be carried out soon, but because of the controversies around that time, it was suspended. People now have the time and ample opportunity to see if their relatives are there.”