ODAHIEKWU OGUNDE, Yenagoa
Bayelsa State Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up to look into cases of police brutality and extra-judicial killings in the state has concluded sitting after hearing 50 petitions filed against personnel of the Nigeria Police and the military in the last six months.
A total of 47 rulings were secured by various petitioners against the personnel of the state Police Command over alleged cases of extra-judicial killings. Three other cases were struck out by the panel for lack of diligent prosecution.
In one of the cases for hearing on Thursday was the alleged extra-judicial killing of one Tarila Mabinton, aged 22 on July 10, 2020 while running an errand for his mother.
The panel Chair, Justice Emmanuel Ogola, in his ruling, expressed shock at the inconsistencies in the claims by the police investigating officers that Mabinton was killed under suspicion of armed robbery.
Justice Ogola pointed out that the claims by respondents, the killer police Inspector, Ebong Otutu, and the Nigeria Police were full of inconsistencies and contradictions.
He said the police evidence showed inconsistencies on the actual scene of killing and crime the victim committed before he was shot dead in cold blood.
Justice Ogola stated: “The police have a case to answer. I have my doubt that there was actually a a robbery before the victim was killed.
“The Supreme Court has made it clear that in evidence of a party to a proceeding that is manifestly contradictory, the court must reject such evidence. And because of the inconsistencies of evidence given by the police, the petitioner has proved his case.”
He later awarded the sum of N10m for the victim’s family, N5m for the deceased girlfriend who was pregnant and with him during the police killing and the sum of N3m for the deceased family to organise decent burial rites.
He also ordered the release of the corpse of the victim to the family.
Ogola, during an interactive session with reporters, threw his weight behind the calls for a detailed reform of the Nigeria Police Force and psychological evaluation necessary to ensure a more civil way of interaction with the Nigerian public.