Police backtrack, withdraw suit against #EndSARS panels in 36 states

Following the reactions that trailed its suit against the state judicial panels on police brutalities, the Nigeria Police has applied to withdraw the suit.

Persecondnews recalls that police had  filed a suit to stop ongoing judicial panels probing allegations of rights abuses and other acts of impunity by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).

The suit was filed by another police lawyer, Mr O. M. Atoyebi (SAN).

Atoyebi averred that the action of state governors was “unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.”

It insisted that the state governments lacked the power to constitute the panels to investigate activities of the police force and its officials in the conduct of their statutory duties.

Police urged the court to restrain the Attorneys-General of the 36 states of the Federation and their various panels of inquiry from going ahead with the probe.

But in the notice of discontinuance, police lawyer, Mr Festus Ibude, asked the court to “take notice that the plaintiff herein intends to and doth hereby wholly withdraws its suit against all the defendants.”

Joined as defendants in the suit are the Attorney-General of the Federation, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the attorneys-general of the states and chairmen of the panels set up by the states.

The National Executive Council chaired  by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in the heat of the EndSARS movement in October had directed states to inaugurate the panel of inquiry.

It was to receive and investigate complaints of police brutality or related extra-judicial killings with a view to delivering justice for all victims of the dissolved SARS and other police units.