Governor Gboyega Oyetola of Osun will pay compensation to victims of police brutality as recommended by the State’s #EndSARS panel on May 12.
This is contained in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr Ismail Omipidan, in Tuesday in Osogbo.
Omipidan said that the compensation was in line with the recommendations of the #EndSARS Panel, set up by the governor, following a presidential directive.
He said Gov. Oyetola-led administration had resolved to rid the state of all forms of injustice and the oppression of the weak.
According to him, the governor called on citizens of the state to hold external and internal institutions and other citizens accountable in ways that public conducts and behaviours conform to the ethos of “Omoluabi” (good virtue).
It will be recalled that Oyetola set up a Judicial Panel of Inquiry against Police Brutality, Human Rights Violations and Related Extra Judicial Killings.
The panel was led by a retired Judge of the State High Court, Justice Akinwale Oladimeji.
It was created to look into cases of assault, illegal arrest, killings, brutality and other forms of rights abuse by the officers and men of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police.
The governor, while receiving the report in August 2021, assured that the government would implement the recommendations of the panel in a manner that would ensure that justice was served.
Also, the governor, in his message to Osun youths during the one-year anniversary of #EndSARS, promised to pay the compensation as recommended by the Panel, even after submitting the report to the Presidency as directed.
