Osun Judicial panel: Parents of slain boy seek justice, demand N5bn as compensation

Parents of late Idris Ajibola who was chased to death last year in Osogbo, Osun State capital by some alleged police officers have dragged the offenders before the Osun Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Police brutality, Human Rights Violations and Related Extra-Judicial Killings sitting in the town with a demand of N5billion as damages to serve as a deterrent to other erring policemen in the country.

The bereaved parents, Mr Kehinde and Mrs Titilayo Ajibola, while addressing journalists after tendering some documents as exhibits through their counsel, Barrister Kanmi Ajibola before the panel, made the demand at the resumed hearing of the panel on Friday, maintained that “the payment of N5billion as compensation will teach police an unforgettable lesson saying, let the officers and men of the Force bear the brunt of their brutality and to serve as a deterrent to other erring officers.

“We have two prayers before the panel. One, we are asking that the killers, the chasers that chased the deceased to death, be investigated and brought to book.

“And secondly for somebody to have nurtured a promising son whose life was untimely terminated, we should be given a sum of N5billion as damages to teach two lessons.

“Though we understand the fact that no amount of money can quantify the soul of the deceased, we felt that it was necessary for the parents of the slain to be adequately compensated.

“The knowledge in this is that the moment the Police bear the brunt of their brutality, it would bring senses to the system; it would bring normalcy to the system and it will bring direction to the system as to the need for the officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force to always go professionally”.

“Doing this is for them to go and protect the lives and property of the citizenry, and not to take their lives or victimise them”.

“The compensation we are seeking for is to teach the top hierarchy of the police the need to caution their subjects from time to time so that they would not go and be killing people, beating people and using guns meant to protect the citizens to victimise or brutalise them as seen in the way they have been doing. We want to establish that lesson.

“Secondly, though there is no amount of money that can quantify the life of the deceased, the parents that have laboured and invested hugely on the deceased must be adequately compensated.

“So, our ground on this is non-negotiable because we are determined to pursue this case beyond any limit. If the recommendation given in the panel at the end of the matter is not palatable to us, we have all it takes to take the matter beyond this place. We are resolute to fight this cause to the last length. A lesson must be channelled and taught,” he said.

“All we want is justice and the justice we are seeking must include the thorough investigations of unknown officers that perpetrated the act and the need to adequately compensate the parents of the victim”.

“On the need for us to prove our case beyond a reasonable doubt by including the names of the suspected perpetrators of the offence, I am assuring that we are ready to give the necessary information to back the petition and ensure that those that are involved in the murder of the deceased are meant to face the wrath of the law.

“We have been granted the request to amend our petition and to include the petition written to the Commissioner of Police, informing him on the unlawful act of the members of the Force that led to the killing of the deceased. We have tendered this as an exhibit and this would reflect on the amended petition which would be brought before the panel on the next adjourned date.

“Although in the petition written to the Commissioner of Police, we suggested two names to serve as an insight for the police to kickstart their investigation.

“This is the second time that we will be seeking for the amendment of the petition. The first request was the need to include the total sum of the money as compensation while the other is the need to include as an exhibit, the copy of the petition written to the Commissioner of Police informing him on the established misconduct of officers of the Force on the said date.”

Corroborating her counsel, Mrs Titilayo Ajibola said the request for the huge sum of money was aimed at quantifying what the deceased would have done for them if not killed untimely.

She said: “We are demanding for N5billion as compensation because we knew that if his life was not terminated, he would do more than that for us as parents.”

The panel has however adjourned the next sitting on the case till February 19th, this year.

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