The judicial panel established by the Lagos state government to probe police brutality has awarded N7.5 million to Marc Chidiebere Nwadi, a petitioner who spent six years in the prison without trial.
Doris Okuwobi, chairperson of the panel, on Friday, delivered the judgment on the petitioner’s case, holding that the petitioner suffered in the hands of police officers owing to his inability to offer a bribe.
Okuwobi presented a cheque of N7.5 million to the petitioner on behalf of the state government.
The chairperson said the petitioner endured six years in prison without any justification.
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“His inability to provide bribes led to trumped-up charges as a result he was kept in the awaiting trial section of the Kirikiri maximum security for six years,” she said.
“The petitioner was incarcerated in the prime of his life without justification for six years and was never tried or sentenced for any crime despite enduring a long six-year stay in prison and losing a vital part of his youth and opportunities.
“We hereby give an award of N7.5 million in favor of the petitioner.”
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Okuwobi recommended that the investigating police officer in charge of the case should be sanctioned by the police and suspended for six months without pay and that other police officers involved should be suspended for three months.
The petitioner came to Lagos in 1999 to visit his brother but could not locate his address and was arrested by police officers at a bus park.
He later spent six years in prison awaiting trial.
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