By Our Correspondent
In continuation of it’s compensation to beneficiaries of human rights violation by the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian Police, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has again given out the sum of N289. 384 09m to the second batch of beneficiaries.
The presentation of the award of the compensation was carried out on Wednesday and was witnessed by the chairman of the Independent Investigative Panel on Human rights violations against SARS and other units of the Nigerian Police, justice Suleiman Galadima (rtd), the chairperson of the NHRC governing board, Dr. Salamatu Suleiman, the executive secretary of the NHRC Tony Ojukwu (SAN) among others.
In her welcome speech, Dr. Suleiman assures that the Commission, as an independent institution, will continue to exercise its mandate of promoting and protecting human rights in the country, using various constituted mechanisms under the NHRC Act (As amended)However, she She commented those who filed petitions to the Independent Investigative Panel on Human rights violations against SARS and other units of the Nigerian Police for their belief in the human rights mechanisms of Nigeria and for diligently presenting and pursuing their cases before the panel.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu (SAN) pleaded with the beneficiaries to accept the token from the federal government, saying that he knows the compensation was not enough to equate the level of their rights that were violated
Meanwhile, the panel secretary, Hillary Ogbonna explained that the total of N431, 88, 094 million had, before now, been paid to 94 beneficiaries under the SARS panel. According to him, “last December we paid N140m to beneficiaries and today we are paying another N289.3m.”
