The Lagos State Judicial panel hearing cases of police brutality and SARS-related abuses on Saturday awarded N11 million as compensation to two petitioners.
One of the recipients was the widow of Rasheed Olanrewaju Kareem, who got N10 million for the his gruesome killing.
Another victim of police brutality was Adebayo Yinka Austine who was awarded N1million for being unlawfully detained and brutalized by the defunct Federal Special Anti Robbery Squad (FSARS).
Justice Doris Okuwobi, chairman of the panel while delivering the verdict held that, Rasheed Olanrewaju was extra-judicially killed on October 21, 2020, at Tejuoso area of Surulere, Lagos State by men of the Nigerian Police force during the #EndSARS protest.
The brother of the deceased, Olalekan Bankole, who testified on February 16, had said that the deceased was shot in the head by police officers from the Area C Command in Surulere.
The panel found that the police authorities failed to investigate the unjustified shooting of unarmed persons at the Tejuosho and Aralile areas of Surulere in Lagos, as well as the extrajudicial killing of the deceased and other persons.
The Chairman of the panel, Justice Doris Okuwobi recommended that “the Nigeria Police Force carries out an independent investigation into the sporadic and deliberate shooting, in order to confirm who carried out the shooting” and prosecute them accordingly.
In the petition of Yinka Austin Adebayo, the panel awarded him the sum of N1 million naira as compensation for the unlawful arrest, brutality and torture meted on him by police operatives between September 28 and 30, 2017.
In reaching its decision, the panel found that on the totality of evidence adduced by the petitioner, the Petitioner’s evidence was undefended, strong and uncontroverted by the Police.
It was also corroborated by the evidence of the second witness as proof that Mr Austin’s rights were infringed upon unjustifiably, having being cleared by the DPO of the Ojo Police Command in Lagos of committing any crime, yet he was still transferred to the SARS unit at Ikeja.
The panel frowned at the illegal confiscation of his car and further held that he was entitled to compensation in the sum of N1m for the violation of his personal liberty and degrading treatment meted to him.
With the new compensations, the panel has now given out a total sum of N68. 25 million to 12 petitioners.
