The Lagos State Judicial Panel on Restitution for victims of SARS and other related matters on Saturday listed eight petitions for hearing.

The Nigerian Army was at the top of the list as the panel gave the military yet another chance to appear and state its version of the incident of Oct 20, 2020, at the Lekki toll gate.

Again, the military authorities failed to show up neither were they represented by counsel.

The panel then listened to the testimony of Serah Ibrahim, one of the co-ordinators of the #EndSARS protest who gave a counter-narrative of the events leading to the Oct 20, 2020 incident.

She spoke about the interactions protesters had with the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, when he came to the toll gate. She also spoke about interactions with members of staff of LCCI about the billboard, placing of advertisements as well as interactions with police officers on the ground at the Lekki toll gate.

The panel also listened to the cross-examination of a former commissioner of Delta State Oil Producing Area Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Kenny Okolugbo.

At a previous proceeding, he had told the panel that his former tenant, Emmanuel Okaka, who owed him four months’ rent, had falsely accused him of the unlawful ejection, forceful entry and stealing.

Based on these false allegations, Okolugbo said he was arrested, brutalised and charged to court.

He also accused some online media outlets of conniving with one ASP Sunday Nwauzor and Zebedee Arekhandia of the Legal Department, to publish false information about the case.

With the petitioner now exonerated and the case struck out on the advice of the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP), Okolugbo said the Nigeria Police Force has greatly damaged his reputation, which threatens his political ambitions in 2023.

While asking the Panel to recommend the dismissal and prosecution of the two police officers, he sought a ₦30 million compensation for the trauma he suffered at the hands of the police. (Channels TV)

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