The judicial panel of inquiry set up to look into the circumstances surrounding the activities of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the EndSARS protests in Edo state has submitted its report to governor Godwin Obaseki.
Presenting the report on Tuesday in Benin City, Ada Ehigiamusoe, retired justice and chairman of the Judicial Panel, said a total of 135 petitions were considered to be meritorious out of the 170 petitions filed.
Giving the breakdown, Ehigiamusoe said of the 170 petitions, 25 were struck out for lack of diligence while 10 were dismissed for lacking in merit.
The chairman further said that 10 petitions of the 135 deserving rewards sought the enforcement of judgements of various high courts against the police for acts of brutality and extrajudicial killings.
The panel recommended the payment of compensations to the victims or their families as well as the enforcement of all the judgements in debts as granted by the courts which have not been complied with by the police till date.
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The 28-man judicial panel also appealed to the governor to consider employing two petitioners namely Ohimai Asekhame and Miracle Aihenlenokhoria, who were hit by stray and identifiable bullets and subsequently resulted in amputation of their limbs.
Receiving the report, Governor Godwin Obaseki thanked the panel for their commitment and diligence in arriving at the recommendations, assuring that he would study the report and implement the recommendations.
Obaseki further assured that his administration would continue to enforce the rights of the citizenry and focus more on the young ones.
“Let me start by appreciating the chairman of this panel. We thank God we have people like Ada Ehigiamusoe, a retired justice, who is still available to work for our people. You will all agree with me that the chairman brought to play not only her deep knowledge in the administration of justice but also her motherly instinct in the way the affairs of the panel was conducted.
“At this point, we have just received the report. As a government, we will go through the report with great diligence. I can assure you that we will look at each and every recommendation you have made. If we have any clarifications to seek, we will call you.
“Fortunately, this is a nationwide activity, and in our last National Economic Council meeting, it was decided that all states should submit their reports on the investigation that were carried out. So, we expect that we have both the national comprehensive response and Edo response to the unfortunate incident that led to the destruction.
“On a final note, I want to say that the EndSARS demonstration of last year was a pointer to the fundamental injustices in our society, and that all of us, particularly political leaders in this country, must begin to understand that if we do not listen to the yearnings of our people more; if we continue to carry on as if we are in power for ourselves, we pray that the situation of last year doesn’t occur. And if it does, the EndSARS we experienced will be a joke,”the governor said.
Meanwhile, the total amount of money recommended in terms of compensation to the victims was not disclosed.
