Rinu Oduala: #EndSARS panels shouldn’t end at recommendations

Rinu Oduala, one of the organisers of the #EndSARS protests, says judicial panels of enquiries shouldn’t end at proffering recommendations.

Last week, the national executive council (NEC) received the recommendations of some of the 28 states where judicial panels were set up in the wake of the #EndSARS protests to look into cases of police brutality.

Speaking with Arise TV on Tuesday, Oduala, who was one of the youth representatives on the Lagos panel but stepped down in February, said implementation of the panels’ recommendations should be the focus of the government.

“The panels of enquiries should not end at the recommendations. What about the implementation? No matter how meagre the amount that you are paying victims for the injustice meted out on them, are we letting the criminals who put them in these situations in the first place — the criminals in police uniform — go with a pat on the back?” she asked.

“The Lagos panel said so many of the police officers that committed these crimes were actually nowhere to be found. The Nigeria Police Force cannot find its own police officers who got Nigerians in disaster in the first place. Are we making sure that we set systems that ensure that cases of police brutality will reduce drastically?

“Ever since the last year, can we say and even conduct a survey that cases of brutality have been reduced in the country? My question: are our policymakers focused on ending police brutality, or are they just setting up panels to whitewash their image and gaslight Nigerian citizenry?”