EndSars Panel: Police, Army Ordered to Pay Over 100 Million Compensation to Victims

by Chris Mark

YENAGOA: The Bayelsa State Panel of Inquiry sitting in Yenagoa, has ordered the authorities of the Nigerian Police to pay the family of late Victor Ezekwueme whom the police ordered to jumped into the river at gun point the sum of one hundred million naira (#100,000,000) as damage.

Justice Young Ogola delivered the ruling on Tuesday during a sitting at the Ernest Ikoli Press centre in Yenagoa.

The ruling also confirmed the earlier judgement by the federal high court sitting in Yenagoa.

Narrating the ordeal of the deceased, the elder brother, Mr Tochukwu Uzoukwu, said his sibling was ordered to jump into the river by the dreaded police team at gun point without knowing how to swim.

According to him, he was actually out of town when a police officer named sergeant Benjamin Ogbuagwu called him that he had arrested his brother and that it was an opportunity for him to eat his money, adding that he begged the officer to release his brother pending when he would return and settle him but he
refused.

He said, from eye witness account, his brother was brought to his shop and asked to show them the place where he was smoking Indian hemp and the boy showed them the back of the toilet where he was smoking, not satisfied with the boy’s answer, they asked him to climb a floating jetty at gun point and ordered him to jump into the river.

“The eye witness said all the boy’s pleas fell on deaf ears even when the boy told them that he does not know how to swim, yet at gun point the boy fell into the river where they watched him struggled for life till he died and they left in their vehicle”

The corpse was recovered four days later and deposited at the mortuary.

Mr. Tochukwu thanked the Federal and State governments and also the Panel of Inquiry for upholding the judgement of the Federal High Court which had initially awarded a fine of hundred million naira to the family.

In another ruling, the Police was ordered to pay the sum of #16million as compensation to the family of a young man who was ran over by a Police vehicle while driving on one-way within the State capital.

The petitioner said that the victim was hospitalized for six months before he died due to the refusal of the Police to pay the sum of #3.5 million for surgery and medical bills.

According to the presiding Justice, #3 million for hospital expenses, #3 million for burial arrangements, while #10 million should be paid to the family.

The petitioner, Mr. Joseph Oghene, thanked the panel and also appealed to the authority concern to respond without delay.

While the third case was on Nigerian Army that arrested and detained one Prince Fubara while playing football at Abua County School field since 14th October 2018.

According to a family member, Mr. Francis Oporo, they had tried to ensure the release of Prince by the Nigerian army to no avail.

“The young man was arrested by Joint Task Force ( JTF) and was taken to Abua Sector Command and later to Bori-Camp and they have refused to tell us the offence he committed”, he said.

Mr. Francis said they thanked the Panel Chairman and members for the judgement as the panel asked the Nigerian Army to pay the family the sum of #10 million naira for unlawful detention and maltreatment and also ordered them to release Prince Fubara unconditionally.

The last was an ongoing case of late Tarila Adamu, who was allegedly shot dead by a happy trigger Police Officer at Arietalin, Ovom in Yenagoa, the State Capital by officer Udu Udoh Ubang last year at about 5:pm.

Narrating the incident, the father of the deceased, Engr. Adamu Mabinton, said on that faithful evening, he sent his son to go and buy him cloth accompanied by his girlfriend when they met some SARS officers that had already gun down one young man.

He said his son confronted them and asked them why were they killing innocent people, that if the young man was a criminal, they should have taken him to Police Station instead of wasting his life and the officer took offence and said to his late son that the boy would take them to his father’s house and they will shoot him and without much ado the boy was shot dead.

According to him, after the killing, they framed up his son that he exchanged gunfire with them, put his cell phone on his chest claiming that he was an armed robber.

He said the Police also came up with forged document that he had signed an affidavit that his son was an armed robber.

“My son was not an armed robber, he was a final year student of Electrical/Electronics Engineering in Benin Republic. That was my only son, as am talking to you, I don’t have another son. They just killed him for no reason and tagged him an armed robber”.

“He came home last year due to the COVID-19 and was killed July that same year. Since then I have tried to seek for justice but they kept on bribing my lawyer from the first to second, this is the third lawyer and I have confidence in this one because he is a sincere person”.

Asking about his expectations, he said he wants the officer that killed his only to be sentenced to death.