BY Ayodele Oluwafemi
The timeframe for the Lagos state judicial panel on police brutality has been extended by three months.
Doris Okuwobi, chairperson of the panel, announced the extension at the sitting on Tuesday.
On October 19, the Lagos state government set up the judicial panel of inquiry and restitution to investigate cases of human rights abuses by operatives of the now-disbanded special anti-robbery squad (SARS) and other security agencies.
This was sequel to the directive of the national economic council (NEC) that mandated states to set up panels to investigate police brutality in the wake of the #EndSARS protests.
In October 2020, many Nigerians took to the streets to demonstrate against police brutality under the #EndSARS campaign.
The Lagos state judicial panel was given a mandate of six months to hear petitions submitted by members of the public, while a total of N200 million was earmarked as compensation.
The panel’s sitting was supposed to end on April 19, but with the three months extension, the panel will hear petitions till July 19.
Five months after commencement of hearing, the panel had received 235 petitions, while more than 115 cases have passed hearing stage.
So far, the panel has compensated seven petitioners, with the total sum of N43,750,000.
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