NHRC panel holds executive session, considers petitions on N452m judgment debts

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC)’s an independent investigative panel on human rights violations by the disbanded SARS and other police units on Thursday, held its second executive session to consider petitions on judgment debts worth N452 million.

The session, presided over by the panel chairman, Justice Suleiman Galadima (retd), according to a statement signed by the Commission’s Deputy Director, Public Affairs, Fatimah Agwai Mohammed, made available to Tribune Online, was to fast-track the process of payment of compensations to victims of human rights violations with court judgments yet to be paid by the police.

Mohammed stated that secretary to the panel, who also doubled as the Human Rights Adviser to the NHRC Executive Secretary, Mr Hillary Ogbonna, disclosed that the executive session, where 35 petitions relating to non-adherence of court judgments by the police in relation to enforcement of judicial decisions /awards were considered.

He said the judgment debts of about ₦452 million were considered on petitions with monetary compensation, ranging from the award of the sum of ₦120,000 to ₦135 million.

According to the statement, petitions bordering on extrajudicial killing, unlawful arrest and detention, cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment and torture, alleged enforced disappearance, confiscation of property, among others, were also considered.

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“It is worthy of note that the executive session only deliberated on petitions with judgments from the federal and state high courts,” Mohammed quoted the secretary to have said.

“It also looked at the authenticity of such judgments as well as ensure that no appeal has been made on the petitions before they are considered for payments, taking into consideration the genuineness of the documents presented before the panel.”

Ogbonna, according to the statement, said it was the belief of the panel that victims of rights violations with court judgments should be paid their legal entitlements as well as forestall further delay in the dispensation of justice.

“The panel believes that the victims of human rights violations who got court judgments should be paid. The move to ensure that these debts are paid is simply to entrench the rule of law by giving the victims who have suffered emotional psychological and physical trauma what is their legal entitlements and to forestall further delay in the dispensation of justice. Justice delayed is justice denied,” the secretary said.

Apart from assisting victims of human rights violations to get their compensation, Ogbonna said the panel had also taken a decision to order the police authority to issue apologies to some of the petitioners who had issuance of apology as part of their compensation.

Tribune Online reports that the panel’s first executive session was in held March 2021, where 20 petitions on judgment debts amounting to the tune of ₦575.8m were considered.

The statement informed that some of the petitions considered at the first session had been paid, while others were in the process of being paid.

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NHRC panel holds executive session, considers petitions on N452m judgment debts