#EndSARS: Buhari Government Cannot Reject Panels It Approved To Probe Police Brutality – Adegboruwa

Human rights activist and lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa (SAN) has said the Nigerian government and its federating units cannot both approve and reject the panels inaugurated to probe brutality and excesses of the police and other security agents in the country.

 

Adegboruwa, a member of the Lagos State Government Judicial Panel on restitution for victims of SARS-related abuses and other matters said the Tribunals were set up at the instruction of the Nigerian government through the National Economic Council (NEC). 

He, therefore, said while it could be strange that the country has not experienced such that, it must make sure the institutions seeking justice work. 

 

Adegboruwa said this in a statement titled, 'The Legality of  #EndSARS Panels' which was made available to SaharaReporters on Monday. 

 

Recall that the senior lawyer has been attacked by pro-government forces for following the report of the panel that indicted military men for perpetrating massacre at Lekki Toll Gate in October last year. 

 

Adegboruwa said, "The federal government has recently muted the idea that all the Judicial Panels of Inquiry set up by the various States across the Federation, especially that of Lagos State, are illegal.

 

"It has never been part of our legal system in Nigeria, for a plaintiff who approached the court in the first instance, to turn around to challenge the legality or jurisdiction of the court.

 

"The #EndSARS Panels were set up at the behest of the Federal Government, through the National Economic Council. In the case of the Lagos Panel, the federal government, through the Nigerian Army, voluntarily submitted itself to the jurisdiction of the Panel, the federal government called witnesses, it tendered documents and it made very lengthy presentations.

 

"A party cannot approbate and reprobate at the same time. Thus, a party who initiated a process and willingly and actively participated in that process, cannot turn around, after judgment, to plead illegality or absence of jurisdiction, simply because the outcome is unfavorable. We must strengthen our institutions to make them work.

 

"While we all await the White Paper from the Lagos State Government, it is important for the government to build trust in the people in all its dealings and utterances. God bless Nigeria."

#EndSARS Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  Saharareporters, New York Disable advertisements : 

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