Victim Of SARS Brutality Narrates Ordeal At Lagos Judicial Panel

…Panel summons Commissioner of Police

The Judicial Panel of Enquiry and Restitution for Victims of
SARS related abuses in Lagos, got underway Tuesday with one of the
petitioners recounting his Police brutality ordeal.

Okolieagu Obunike, a father of five, told the panel that in
2012, Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) operatives
detained and tortured him for 47 days at their Ikeja office,
without trial.

Obunike alleged that the operatives also stole and sold his car,
a Volkswagen bus, land, bags of cement, inverter and carted away
all the possessions in his house.

He testified as the first petitioner since the Governor Babajide
Sanwo-Olu set up the nine-member panel on October 15, following
weeks of near nationwide #EndSARS protests.

SARS – the Special Anti-Robbery Squad – was dissolved by the
Inspector-General of Police following protests over the atrocious
conduct of the unit.

Three other petitioners were scheduled for hearing yesterday.
They are: a paraplegic on wheelchair, Mr Ndukwe Ekekwe; Olukoya
Ogungbeje: and Mr Basil Chetal Ejiagwa.

But only Obunike’s testified in person. Ogungbeje, a lawyer, and
Ejiagwa were absent but represented by their counsel.

They prayed the court to adopt their petitions as their
testimony.

The court granted their applications.

The testimony of Ekekwe, whose spine was broken after allegedly
being thrown from a two-storey building, was adjourned to give the
Commissioner of Police in Lagos time to appear and respond to the
allegations.

Panel chair, Judge emeritus Doris Okuwobi, adjourned till 10am
on October 30.

The panel was scheduled to begin full sitting on Monday, but
could not do so because three of its members Rinu Oduala, Temitope
Majekodunmi and Lucas Koyejo had yet to be sworn in.

Upon their arrival, Oduala and Majekodunmi, both youth
representatives nominated by an online poll took their oaths
alongside Koyejo, the Zonal Coordinator (South-West Zone) –
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Obunike told the panel that he was arrested after tendering his
resignation as manager of a firm, following a false complaint of
theft by his boss.

He said he was first taken to Ojo Police Station before being
transferred to FSARS office at Ikeja.

There, he was beaten, hung on a pole and paraded as a thief in a
market after he refused to confess to a bogus theft charge, a day
after his arrest.

“They started beating me, paraded me before Alaba Market. The
beating was too much. They broke my head. Then they took me back to
the station and called my boss. I spent 47 days with SARS,” Obunike
said.

He identified the policemen responsible as Inspector Sunday
alias” Baba Ijapa” and ASP (Assistant Superintended) Haruna.

He said: “My family didn’t know where I was. When my mother and
wife finally came. They beat them up in my presence. They took over
my house, sold my car, my inverter, phones and seized my land
documents.”

The petitioner said he eventually got judgment against the
Police on February 26, 2016 at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Justice Ibrahim Buba ordered the Police to him N10million as
exemplary damages, but the Police refused to pay.

He added: “No compensation has been made till date. That’s why I
came forward to the panel. My properties were not given back to me.
The only one I have got back is the landed property document in
2017. Justice (Mobolanle) Okikiolu-Ighile ordered the release of my
documents.”

When asked what he wanted of the panel, Obunike said: “”I want
the panel to compel the police to do what the court has said. I am
tired of suffering…feeding,school fees is a problem.”

Justice Okuwobi promised that the panel would make its findings
on Obunike’s allegations public within seven working days.

Afterwards, Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for
Justice Moyosore Onigbanjo SAN, pledged that the government would
not interfere in the panel’s work, adding that the state is
“determined to get to the bottom of this matter and will leave no
stone unturned to ensure justice is done on both sides.”

He added: “Lagos would ensure the the panel’s independence.
There will be no interference from the Executive. Anybody who has
been abused should come forward.”

Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Olumide Akpata also
pledged the association’s cooperation with the panel. Akpata
pledged to send in an observer for every day of the sitting.

Apart from Justice Okuwobi (Rtd), Oduala and Temitope other
members of the panel are Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Ebun-Olu
Adegboruwa, Director, Lagos State Directorate of Citizen’s Rights,
Mrs Oluwatoyin Odusanya; a representative of the civil society
groups Ms Patience Udoh, and a human rights activist, Mr Segun
Awosanya (Segalink).

The panel will sit from 10am to 4pm for six months. The
designated sitting days are Tuesday, Friday and Saturday at the
Lagos Court of Arbitration, No 1A, Remi Oluwode Street, Lekki Phase
1, Lagos.

The panellists are tasked with listening to the submissions of
survivors, interrogating the accused persons, determining the
veracity of all claims, recommending punishments for the guilty and
appropriate compensation for the victims.

…Panel summons Commissioner of Police

The Judicial Panel of Enquiry and Restitution for Victims of
SARS related abuses in Lagos, got underway Tuesday with one of the
petitioners recounting his Police brutality ordeal.

Okolieagu Obunike, a father of five, told the panel that in
2012, Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) operatives
detained and tortured him for 47 days at their Ikeja office,
without trial.

Obunike alleged that the operatives also stole and sold his car,
a Volkswagen bus, land, bags of cement, inverter and carted away
all the possessions in his house.

He testified as the first petitioner since the Governor Babajide
Sanwo-Olu set up the nine-member panel on October 15, following
weeks of near nationwide #EndSARS protests.

SARS – the Special Anti-Robbery Squad – was dissolved by the
Inspector-General of Police following protests over the atrocious
conduct of the unit.

Three other petitioners were scheduled for hearing yesterday.
They are: a paraplegic on wheelchair, Mr Ndukwe Ekekwe; Olukoya
Ogungbeje: and Mr Basil Chetal Ejiagwa.

But only Obunike’s testified in person. Ogungbeje, a lawyer, and
Ejiagwa were absent but represented by their counsel.

They prayed the court to adopt their petitions as their
testimony.

The court granted their applications.

The testimony of Ekekwe, whose spine was broken after allegedly
being thrown from a two-storey building, was adjourned to give the
Commissioner of Police in Lagos time to appear and respond to the
allegations.

Panel chair, Judge emeritus Doris Okuwobi, adjourned till 10am
on October 30.

The panel was scheduled to begin full sitting on Monday, but
could not do so because three of its members Rinu Oduala, Temitope
Majekodunmi and Lucas Koyejo had yet to be sworn in.

Upon their arrival, Oduala and Majekodunmi, both youth
representatives nominated by an online poll took their oaths
alongside Koyejo, the Zonal Coordinator (South-West Zone) –
National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

Obunike told the panel that he was arrested after tendering his
resignation as manager of a firm, following a false complaint of
theft by his boss.

He said he was first taken to Ojo Police Station before being
transferred to FSARS office at Ikeja.

There, he was beaten, hung on a pole and paraded as a thief in a
market after he refused to confess to a bogus theft charge, a day
after his arrest.

“They started beating me, paraded me before Alaba Market. The
beating was too much. They broke my head. Then they took me back to
the station and called my boss. I spent 47 days with SARS,” Obunike
said.

He identified the policemen responsible as Inspector Sunday
alias” Baba Ijapa” and ASP (Assistant Superintended) Haruna.

He said: “My family didn’t know where I was. When my mother and
wife finally came. They beat them up in my presence. They took over
my house, sold my car, my inverter, phones and seized my land
documents.”

The petitioner said he eventually got judgment against the
Police on February 26, 2016 at the Federal High Court in Lagos.

Justice Ibrahim Buba ordered the Police to him N10million as
exemplary damages, but the Police refused to pay.

He added: “No compensation has been made till date. That’s why I
came forward to the panel. My properties were not given back to me.
The only one I have got back is the landed property document in
2017. Justice (Mobolanle) Okikiolu-Ighile ordered the release of my
documents.”

When asked what he wanted of the panel, Obunike said: “”I want
the panel to compel the police to do what the court has said. I am
tired of suffering…feeding,school fees is a problem.”

Justice Okuwobi promised that the panel would make its findings
on Obunike’s allegations public within seven working days.

Afterwards, Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for
Justice Moyosore Onigbanjo SAN, pledged that the government would
not interfere in the panel’s work, adding that the state is
“determined to get to the bottom of this matter and will leave no
stone unturned to ensure justice is done on both sides.”

He added: “Lagos would ensure the the panel’s independence.
There will be no interference from the Executive. Anybody who has
been abused should come forward.”

Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President Olumide Akpata also
pledged the association’s cooperation with the panel. Akpata
pledged to send in an observer for every day of the sitting.

Apart from Justice Okuwobi (Rtd), Oduala and Temitope other
members of the panel are Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Ebun-Olu
Adegboruwa, Director, Lagos State Directorate of Citizen’s Rights,
Mrs Oluwatoyin Odusanya; a representative of the civil society
groups Ms Patience Udoh, and a human rights activist, Mr Segun
Awosanya (Segalink).

The panel will sit from 10am to 4pm for six months. The
designated sitting days are Tuesday, Friday and Saturday at the
Lagos Court of Arbitration, No 1A, Remi Oluwode Street, Lekki Phase
1, Lagos.

The panellists are tasked with listening to the submissions of
survivors, interrogating the accused persons, determining the
veracity of all claims, recommending punishments for the guilty and
appropriate compensation for the victims.