The independent investigative panel in Abuja set up to look into cases of human rights violations by the Police, following the #EndSARS protest in October 2020, submitted its report to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Tuesday, 27th September 2022.
The panel received 295 petitions from 29 States and the FCT, on several issues, including threat to life, abuse of office, non-payment of judgment sums, unlawful arrest and detention, among others. Out of the 295 petitions, there were 64 cases of extra-judicial killings and 7 cases of enforced disappearance. The panel heard and decided on 95 petitions; 54 were struck out for lack of diligent prosecution by the petitioners and 57 were referred to the NHRC for further investigations. However, 54 petitions were withdrawn by complainants for several reasons, including allegations of intimidation by the Police, while some others resigned to fate.
It will be recalled that a series of protests tagged #EndSARS took place across the country in October 2020, calling for an end to police brutality perpetrated by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) unit of the Nigeria Police. In response to one of the demands of the protesters, panels were set up in most States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to look into allegations of gross violations suffered by citizens at the hands of SARS personnel.
The report of the Abuja #EndSARS investigative panel contained recommendations as well as penalties. The panel found 72 Police officers guilty for the allegations levelled against them and recommended 28 for prosecution, 25 for dismissal, 15 for disciplinary action and 4 for demotion.
Among several recommendations, the panel led by a retired Supreme Court Justice, Suleiman Galadima, urged the National Economic Council to direct the NHRC to harmonise reports from all #EndSARS panels set up across the States, for onward transmission to the Federal Government for implementation.
Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Anthony Ojukwu expressed the Commission’s commitment to work with all stakeholders including the relevant Committees of the National Assembly and civil society to implement the panel’s recommendations for police reform.
Despite the disbandment of SARS, police brutality subsists. There are reports of increasing incidents of harassment and other human rights violations by personnel of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT), the unit set up to replace SARS. The fears expressed by Nigerians over the purported disbanding of SARS appear to be materialising. Indeed, the suspicion that the same individuals who were personnel of the defunct SARS unit were merely given a new name to continue to deploy their usual tactics of harassment, extortion and arbitrary arrest and detention of innocent citizens.
Human rights violations especially by security agencies continue to rise, with victims often struggling to get justice and, in some cases, unable to afford to pursue any channels of remedy whatsoever. In other instances, the victims are intimidated into silence by the perpetrators.