#EndSARS: NEC awaits Lagos as eight more states submit judicial panel reports

Eight additional states have submitted their judicial panel reports on petitions relating to police brutality to the National Economic Council (NEC).

Yemi Osinbajo, vice-president and head of the council, announced the development in a statement by Laolu Akande, his media aide, after the NEC meeting on Thursday.

According to Osinbajo, the eight states that recently submitted their reports are Abia, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Kwara, Nasarawa, Ondo, and Rivers.

The vice-president noted that all the states that established judicial panels on police brutality have submitted their reports, except Lagos.

Lagos is expected to complete the hearing of its petitions in October, after the state government extended the duration of the panel twice.

“All 28 States that established judicial panels following the EndSARS protests last year have now completed the assignment, except Lagos State’s panel which will conclude later this year in October,” the statement reads.

“Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, made the disclosure today at the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting, adding that 8 States have turned in their reports and Council looks forward to discussing them in full at its next meeting as more States are expected to make their submissions as well.

“This was among resolutions reached at the end of the council’s 119th meeting (8th in 2021), held virtually and presided over by the vice-president, with State governors, federal ministers, and other senior government officials in attendance.”

In June, the council announced that it would soon convene a special session for the implementation of the reports by judicial panels established by states.

In October 2020, the council agreed to establish judicial panels in states, including the federal capital territory (FCT), to investigate cases of police brutality.

The decision was announced during the #EndSARS protests, when youths took to the streets in different parts of the country to call for the disbandment of the special anti-robbery squad (SARS).

Seven months after the council’s decision, data obtained from Enough is Enough (EiE) showed that 29 states and the FCT constituted #EndSARS panels, but no panel was set up in Borno, Jigawa, Kano, Kebbi, Sokoto, Yobe, and Zamfara.

Meanwhile, the panel in Kogi has not held sittings since its inauguration.