Victims of police brutality in Bayelsa State are still awaiting compensation and justice years after the state’s Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Police Brutality and Other Related Offences submitted its recommendations, amid growing concerns over the fate of the report.
The panel was established in the aftermath of the 2020 #EndSARS protests, which demanded an end to police brutality and other abuses by security personnel.
A member of the panel, Comrade Samuel Numonengi, said the committee had completed its assignment and submitted its recommendations to the Bayelsa State Government, leaving the authorities to determine the next steps towards implementation.
Numonengi, a former chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, explained that a White Paper Committee was expected to review the recommendations and advance the process.
He said he understood that the state government had taken some necessary steps, with further action involving engagement with the Federal Government to facilitate the payment of compensation to affected persons.
“Our own job was to submit our recommendations and leave the rest for the state government to do,” he said.
According to Numonengi, the panel recommended financial compensation for some victims and disciplinary measures against certain police officers.
One of the recommendations, he disclosed, was the demotion of a police officer linked to an incident in which a woman sustained an eye injury.
Although he could not confirm the current status of the implementation process, Numonengi urged the state government to sustain its engagement with the Federal Government to ensure that those entitled to compensation eventually receive it.
He lamented that some victims had continued to approach members of the panel seeking updates on their cases, despite the passage of several years since the report was submitted.
He said the prolonged delay had left affected persons waiting for redress after recounting their experiences before the inquiry.
“As long as that compensation has not been made, there will still be that thought in them that that’s what happened to them. That’s why we’re wasting their time bringing them out to testify about everything they did. And they are still just waiting for justice to be done,” he said.
However, the Bayelsa State Chairman of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Comrade David West, accused the state government of failing to adequately address the plight of victims and implement the panel’s recommendations.
West, whose organisation represented some victims before the inquiry, questioned why the report had yet to translate into tangible relief for those who suffered alleged abuses.
He said government officials had informed him that the panel was a Federal Government initiative implemented at the state level.
However, he argued that the victims were residents of Bayelsa who deserved the support of their state government, irrespective of the outstanding federal process.
West maintained that the government could have introduced interim measures to assist affected persons while awaiting the Federal Government’s intervention.
“What did the governor do with the report? The victims are still complaining,” he asked.
He disclosed that some victims and their families had appealed directly to the state government for assistance through a letter submitted to the governor’s office via the office of the then deputy governor.
According to him, he was subsequently informed that the letter had been referred to an official for necessary action, but no tangible outcome had emerged.
West added that some families had incurred debts to engage lawyers to pursue their cases, while survivors continued to struggle with medical expenses and other financial needs.
He appealed to the state government to revisit the recommendations and explore ways of providing relief to affected persons, even if the Federal Government had yet to conclude its part of the process.
“It will not bring back the dead. But then, at least, concern has been shown by government and by people to say, look, what happened to you, it was wrong,” he said.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Bayelsa Non-Governmental Organisations Forum (BANGOF), Comrade Taritein Boco, expressed concern over the prolonged delay, arguing that setting up an inquiry without implementing its findings undermined the purpose of the exercise.
Boco stressed that public inquiries should result in concrete action rather than leave victims without redress years after presenting their grievances.
“It is one thing to set up a committee; it is another thing to follow through on the recommendations of that committee,” he said.
He called on the authorities to prioritise the welfare of affected residents and ensure that the findings of public investigations translate into meaningful action.
The BANGOF chairman also urged citizens to demand accountability from elected officials and support leadership that responds to public concerns rather than allowing critical issues to be overshadowed by political activities.
The #EndSARS protests erupted in 2020, with demonstrators calling for an end to police brutality, extrajudicial abuses and misconduct, particularly those associated with the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
In Bayelsa, the judicial panel received complaints of alleged abuses by security personnel and recommended compensation for some victims, alongside disciplinary measures against implicated officers.
Six years after the protests, however, the accounts of Numonengi and West highlight continuing uncertainty over the implementation of the recommendations and the payment of compensation.
While Numonengi maintained that the state government had taken steps and should continue engaging the Federal Government, West insisted that the state could do more to ease the suffering of affected residents pending the resolution of the outstanding issues.
