Abia Governor panel on extrajudicial killings

TRACKING_____Abia State governor, Okezie Ikpeazu yesterday inaugurated a 17-member judicial panel to investigate allegations of extrajudicial killings and brutality by security agents in the state from 2015 to date.

The panel, which has a retired Chief Judge of the state, Justice Sunday Imo as Chairman, state Solicitor General/Permanent Secretary Ministry of Justice, Uzoamaka Uche Ikonne as Secretary and the State NUJ Chairman, John Emejor as a member, has 12 weeks to execute its assignment and submit a report to the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.

The governor also inaugurated another 12-member committee, which has the state Special Duties Commissioner, Ebisike Chimaobi as Chairman and Permanent Secretary, State Ministry of Works Engineer, Sunday Okpara as a member to ascertain the level of damages to private and public infrastructure during the #EndSARS protests in the state.

Tasking the panel and committee to come up with useful reports, Ikpeazu decried the scenarios that led to their constitution, stressing that the members were well chosen.

He indicated the government’s disposition to compensate the victims of the extrajudicial killings and brutalities and for the damages ascertained by the committee, which resulted from the protests, urging the concerned groups and individuals to make their submissions to the panel and committee in their own interests.