The Benue State Judicial Panel of Inquiry says it has so far received a total of 28 complaints from people who were allegedly brutalised by police in the state.
The Chairman of the panel, Justice Adam Onum disclosed this on Monday, during the inaugural sitting of the panel at Court 6, in Makurdi.
The Next Edition had reported that Governor Samuel Ortom, on October 21, 2020, constituted a Panel to look into issues relating to police brutality as one of the ways to curtail the recent EndSARS protests and address the agitation of the youths.
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According to the Governor, the panel is to ensure fair hearing to all parties and ensure justice for victims of police brutality across the state.
Speaking, Justice Onum said the panel would sit three times a week until they see the need to increase the number of days.
Onum, a former Chief Judge of the state,
promised that the panel would stick strictly with its terms of reference which include; to receive and investigate complaints of police brutality, human rights violations or related extra-judicial killings.
The panel is also to evaluate the evidence presented/other surrounding circumstances, and draw conclusions as to the validity of the complaint and to recommend compensation and other remedial measures where appropriate among other things.
Speaking to journalists, one of the petitioners, Terfa Gundu narrated how the police arrested and tortured him until he had to confess to the crime he didn’t commit, just to save his life.
Gundu, in his petition to the panel, is asking for N5 billion as damages.
