The Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up to investigate cases of police brutality by Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Governor of Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria announced on Saturday it would resume sitting a week after it suspended sitting.
The panel in a message posted on its Twitter handle informed victims of police brutality in Lagos to submit their petition before December 24 which will be the deadline for submission. Currently, the panel said it has over 100 petitions.
“We hereby announce the resumption of sittings of the Lagos Judicial panel of inquiry & restitution, while notifying the public of the deadline for petitions set for 24th of December 2020. Thus far, we have over 100 petitions & implore that others come in on time for the hearing,” the Twitter message said without specifying if the representatives of the youth who withdrew from it were coming on board.
The sitting of the panel could not hold on Friday, November 6 due to the absence of Temitope and Olorunrinu who stayed away from the panel following a restriction on the latter’s bank account by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Justice Doris Okuwobi (rtd), Chairman of the panel, announced the suspension of the panel till 14 November showing concern over the pulling out of the youth representatives
“We are confronted with a situation which prevented her Oduala Bolatito Olorunrinu from coming,” Okuwobi had said.
“We do not know if the two youths representatives will eventually pull out. We do not want a situation where proceedings would go on and later are impugned with controversy for lack of quorum.”
On November 7, the panel announced on November the suspension of its sitting panel after l two youth representatives Majekodunmi Temitope and Oduala Bolatito Olorunrinu withdrawn from the panel.
The apex bank relied on an ex parte order obtained from a Federal High Court to freeze her account and those of 19 others including Garfield Nigeria, which had supported journalists with grants to report the #ENDSARS protest activities on the ground that they were sponsors of terrorism.
The November 7 proceedings where the Nigerian Army was to give its testimony on the October 20 Lekki shooting were stalled due to the lack of quorum from the panel.
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