The Kaduna State Judicial Panel of Inquiry into Acts of Police Brutality and Other Related Abuses has submitted its report to the state government.

The report was received by the Deputy Governor, Hadiza Balarabe at Sir Kashim Ibrahim House.

She stated that the state government will study the report and its recommendations and issue a White Paper in response.

Balarabe described the crisis of policing in the country as a national emergency and reiterated the need for the urgent devolution and decentralisation of policing in other to enhance their effectiveness and get the confidence of the people.

“Every state government is aware of the prevailing anomaly in policing: the deployment in all the states of police officers controlled by the Federal Government but whose operations are funded by state governments. As recommended by the APC Committee of The Federalism chaired by our governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai, it is time to devolve policing powers and institute the necessary safeguards for lawful conduct and the protection of human rights.

“The crisis of policing remains a national emergency. It is in the interest of everyone that our country builds an efficient police force, large enough to be effective, sufficiently decentralised to understand the terrain and build local support, properly trained, equipped and resourced for the job and operating with the highest regard for the law and rights and dignity of citizens.

“As I receive this report, I wish to register the gratitude of the Kaduna State Government, to Hon. Justice David Shiri Wyom and the seven other members of this Commission of Inquiry for their service.

“The government will study the report and its recommendations and issue a White Paper,” she said.

The Chairman of the panel, Justice David Nyom, during the presentation said the report contains four volumes of the Record of proceeding of all the sittings of the Panel and copies of the main report.

He added that the panel heard a total of 43 petitions out of the 64 petitions it received after evaluating the evidence and considering the exhibit tendered and admitted, while six were struck out on the application of Petitioners and or Counsel, and 13 others struck out due to lack of merit.

The panel, however, recommended the payment of compensation to 23 petitioners in the total sum of two hundred and seventy-one million five hundred thousand naira for deaths, injuries, permanent incapacitation, and others.

It also recommended the prosecution of some erring police officers as well as the compliance by the Police of rulings/orders of the High Courts.

They said both the state and Federal Government should assist in directing the Police to release corpses of persons they deposited in the mortuary to relatives and petitioners for burial, noting that such people cannot afford the bill charged by the hospitals and for the fact that it was the Police who deposited same.

The Judicial Panel of Inquiry to investigate complaints relating to Act of Police Brutality was inaugurated by Deputy Governor Balarabe in October 2020 and given a period of six months to submit its report from the date of the first sitting. (Channels TV)

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