Displaying items by tag: POLICEBRUTALITY

The six-month tenure of the Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution For Victims of SARS Related Abuses and Other Matters has been extended by three more months.

The new date has been fixed for July 19 which is against the earlier deadline of April 19, 2021.

The Lagos panel was inaugurated by the State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on October 19, 2020, to among other things receive memoranda from concerned members of the public and inquire into cases of abuse, brutality, torture, and extrajudicial killings by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, (SARS) in Lagos.

As of the deadline for the receipt of the memo, the panel had received 235 petitions.

The nine-member body, which has now been reduced to 8 after the withdrawal of youth activist, Rinu Oduala’s membership is comprised of representatives from the state government, civil society, the National Human Rights Commission and a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police.

The Governor also established a N200 million fund for compensation to families and individuals who have been victimized by officers of the disbanded SARS.

So far, the panel has awarded compensations totaling N43.75 million to seven petitioners.

Out of about 235 petitions received within the period of receiving memoranda, the panel has sat over at least 115 cases.

Due to the Easter holidays, the panel will proceed on vacation as from Friday, April the 2nd to the 9th, and will resume proceedings on Saturday, April the 10th.