Governor Alex Otti have been petitioned over the non payment of the N511million compensation approved for them by Abia state judicial panel of inquiry, Survivors of police brutality and extra judicial killings in Abia state.
Police brutality triggered the 2020 #EndSARS nationwide protests, which culminated in the shooting of protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos. In response to the public outcry that followed, state governments across the country set up judicial panels to investigate complaints of police abuse and recommend compensation for victims
The panel chaired by former Chief Judge, Justice Sunday Imo, with former Solicitor General Mrs. Uzo Uche Ikonne as Secretary, submitted its report in July 2021 in Abia State.
The victims Stated that the panel, set up under the administration of former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, considered over 86 cases, out of which 46 were found to have merit. It subsequently recommended the payment of N511 million in compensation.
The victims pleaded for the immediate release of the funds to alleviate their suffering In a petition addressed to Governor Otti and the Speaker of the Abia State House of Assembly.The petition, signed by Dr. Osita Nwabuko and Harrison Ikwue, lamented that while several states had already compensated their own victims, Abia had “abandoned” them.
“when Nigerians were brutalised by the police in different parts of the country, the federal government gave a directive to the states to set up panels of inquiry to ascertain the Scale of abuses and compensate victims in 2020.”
Dr. Nwabuko, the group’s coordinator, appealed passionately to Governor Otti, noting that Lagos, the FCT, Osun, Ekiti, and Rivers States had already paid compensation to victims identified by their judicial panels.
He expressed concern that, despite repeated letters and appeals submitted through different government officials, relief had not come. He described the dire situation of some survivors, saying “many of the victims are homeless, ill, or deceased,” and added that some bodies remain in mortuaries because families cannot afford burial Costs.
