
Mr. Ndukwe Ekekwe,a victim of police brutality Tuesday protested the N7.5million compensation awarded him by the Lagos State Judicial Panel on restitution for victims of SARS related abuses and other matters .
He said the amount in compensation was too small compared to what he lost that he ought to be awarded about N30 million naira as he claimed that he sold his land and other properties during his travail.
It took the intervention of his counsel to calm him down as the panel frowned at his conduct.
He later collected his cheque which was presented to him by the panel chairman Justice Doris Okuwobi (Rtd.).
In his petition,the victim said the federal special anti robbery squad (FSARS) inflicted on him which confined the petitioner to a wheel chair.
The panel found that the petitoner proved his case beyond reasonable doubt of how he was tortured by the police in the process of it’s investigation and which was corroborated by the police officer who testified when he asserted that torture was used to extract information from suspects.
The panel ruled that the torture of the petitoner violated his fundamental right to human dignity as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and awarded the sum of N7.5 million naira as compensation to the petitioner.
The panel also directed the Nigeria police force to investigate the circumstances surrounding the torture and deformity of the petitoner and mete out appropriate sanctions to the officers involved.
In the second judgement between the family of late Okwechi Onwugbufor and the Nigeria Police Force, the panel dismissed the petition on the grounds that there was no eye witness account of the death of the deceased and no documentary evidence to confirm that the petitoner was killed by the Nigeria Police Force.
The family of the late Okwechi Onwugbufor had petitioned the panel over the death of the family bread winner alledgedly in the hands of the Nigeria Police Force personnel some 42 years ago.
In the petition of Adeshina Isaac and Andrew Okoh vs the Nigeria Police Force, the panel found merit in the petitioners case and awarded both of them N3 million naira each.
The petitioners were presented their cheques accompanied by their counsel.
The counsels for the two cases which were awarded compensation, Olukoya Ogungbeje for Ndukwe Ekekwe and A. O. Oyaletor for Adeshina Isaac and Andrew Okoh, commended the panel for it’s thoroughness and painstaking effort in delivering justice in the petitions.