The Independent Investigative Panel on allegations of human rights violations by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS and other Units of the Nigeria Police sitting in Abuja, Nigeria’s Capital says it will ensure that victims of human rights violations are compensated from the Human Rights Compensation Funds.
Chairman of the panel, Retired Justice Sulaiman Galadima presided over an executive session of the panel on petitions relating to the enforcement of judicial decisions and considered such petitions.
The Panel also considered 20 out of the 44 petitions on non-compliance with the court order by the Police on the award of compensations to victims of human rights violations and concluded that all judgment debts which have not been paid by the police be paid to the victims or families of victims.
According to the Secretary of the panel, Hillary Ogbonna ’’ the police will have to make its commitment in respect to the court orders while part of the money will be paid from the human rights compensation funds which are expected to be paid for such purposes’’ he said.
He also said that ’’The petitions on judgment debts of about 575.8 million were considered by the panel ranging from the award of the sum of 200million to 120,000 of cases bordering on extrajudicial killing, unlawful arrest and detention, cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment and torture, alleged enforced disappearance, confiscation of property and others’’
Apart from assisting the victims of human rights violations to get their compensation paid, Mr. Ogbonna added that the panel has also taken a decision to order the police authority to issue apologies to some of the petitioners who have the issuance of apology as part of their compensation.
It would be recalled that the Panel was set up by the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, in Nigeria to address issues of human rights violations allegedly committed by the defunct Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS and other units of the Nigerian Police that led to the #ENDSARS Protest in the country.
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