The Lagos State government has extended the timeframe of the state’s Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution of Victims of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other matters by three months.
Justice Doris Okuwobi (retd.), Chairperson of the panel, announced the extension at sitting on Tuesday.
The Lagos State government had on October 19, 2020, set up the panel to investigate cases of human rights abuses by operatives of the now-disbanded SARS and the Nigeria Police Force.
This was sequel to the directive of the National Economic Council (NEC) that mandated states to set up panels to investigate police brutality in the wake of the #EndSARS protests.
The Lagos state judicial panel was given a mandate of six months to hear petitions submitted by members of the public, while a total of N200 million was earmarked as compensation.
The panel’s sitting was supposed to end on April 19, but with the three months extension, the panel will hear petitions till July 19.
