CSOs urge Soludo to Implement #EndSARS panel report,

Ahead of the second year anniversary of the #EndSARS, civil society groups have urged the governors in the South-East to implement the panel report.

The groups expressed worry that over eight months after the #EndSARS judicial panel on police brutality submitted its report to the governors, it has yet to be implemented.

Speaking with journalists in Awka on Sunday, the Secretary of the Civil Liberties Organisation, Mr. Vincent Ezekwueme, said only the implementation of the report will on police brutality douse the current insecurity and tension in the region.

Ezekwueme, who was also a member of the Anambra #EndSARS panel, recalled that former governor Willie Obiano received the Anambra report on March 15, 2022.

He said Nigerians and the global community are inquisitive and eager to know how the petitioners will be compensated.

He said, “Anambra State received the highest petitions of 310, which is the highest in the country. For justice to be seen to have been done, victims of police brutality should be adequately compensated in line with the N699,000,000 recommended by the penal.

“Justice Veronica Ngozi Umeh-led panel presented a thorough, articulate and conscientious report that if judiciously implemented, will assuage the agony, pains and sufferings of the victims, petitions and their families. Notably, if the petitioners are not compensated, the aim of the government in establishing the End SARS penal will be defeated.

“Governor Chukwuma Soludo should urgently do the needful as we mark two years of horrendous incidence that led to the death of many youths. Their sacrifices shall never be in vain, hence the ineluctable and inexorable need to votes credible leaders in the 2023 general election.”

Also, the Anambra State Civil Society Network, led by Comrade Chris Azor, said that instead of implementing the recommendations, the government set up what it called Truth, Justice and Peace Commission.

Azor, who was a member of the #EndSARS Panel, therefore, urged Soludo to act upon the Judicial Panel of inquiry report submitted in March 2022.

“The state government in its effort to address security challenges in the State should, as a first step act on the report to ameliorate the various injuries suffered by victims and their families.

“This should be fundamental towards achieving desired peace and security in the State and indeed the Southeast region,” Azor added.