Ebonyi state Governor Engr. David Umahi Monday addressed Nigeria youths on #EndSARS protest in Abakaliki the Ebonyi State capital with the promise to set up a judicial panel of inquiry on Tuesday, October 20th.
The Governor’s address came after the protesters blocked the Government house gate from 10 am to about 3 pm demanding that the government must address them on police brutality in the State.
While addressing the youths, Governor Umahi assured them that he will set up a judicial panel of inquiry on Tuesday to address all forms of police brutality in the state.
He urged them to maintain the protest in a peaceful way and assured them that nobody will harass them after the protest adding that he will liaise with the Police Commissioner CP Sule Maku and the army commander to dismantle roadblocks in the State.
The governor who publicly releases his phone number to the protesters urged them to resist all forms of intimidation from the police adding that activities of Ekaba police station shall be looked into by the state government.
He further announced that university activities shall commence in the State on Wednesday, October 21st in that state.
“I want to assure you that as far as I remain the Governor of Ebonyi state, nobody is going to molest you. You are fighting for your rights, you are fighting for your children, you are fighting for your future. So, what you are doing is constitutional but you must be orderly to get something out of it. On the issue of activities of police at the Ekeaba police station, we are going to address it.
“You demanded a judicial panel of inquiry, we will set it up tomorrow. The members will be required from a high court judge, you will deliver two people to be members of the judicial panel of inquiry. There will be one youth leader, one student will participate, there will also be a representative of the police and then representative of human right and then one person from the office of the Attorney-General.
“They will sit and investigate the spate of police brutality, human rights violation, and related extra-judicial killings. There will recommend compensations.
“There will be a trust fund set under me where the panel of inquiry is expected to collect complaints with the victims of police brutality, we will collect those complaints and then pay compensations.
“There will also be a special committee and human rights committee comprising the Governor to check the excesses of police. Security agencies shall be members, those on tactical units of the police shall be members, representative of the youths and top representative of civil society organizations shall be members too. We are going to have immediately, human rights commission office for easy access to human rights complaints
One of the protesters, Obinna Udenwe, urged Government to disband SARS in action not on paper.
“Even though the federal government has scrapped SARS, we have not seen the action we want the Government to take action on police reform, train police very well and take away Ak47 from the police and give them pistol because they are using it to intimidate people.
“The Government should set up a judicial panel of inquiry against Police brutality I was a victim of SARS in 2018, I stepped out of my house to buy bread the next thing I was arrested, taken to an uncompleted building, tortured if not that I was reorganized by one of them I would have been killed for nothing if someone like me can be treated like that in Ebonyi State imagine what will happen to other people”.
