This is a report of the fourteenth public hearing of the Oyo State Judicial Panel of Inquiry into Police Brutality, Violation of Rights of Citizens and Unlawful Killings in Oyo State.
Venue: The House of Chiefs, Oyo State House of Assembly, Ibadan, Oyo State.
Date: Wednesday, February 24, 2021.
Today’s sitting commenced at about 9:25am, shortly after the arrival of the panelists.
Cases at the Oyo State Judicial Panel
1. Case No. OYJPPB/022
Mr Shaguna George Gbenga v Nigeria Police, Alabebe Police Station. The petitioner was present but was not represented by a legal representative. The respondent was absent at the hearing. The petitioner told the Oyo State Judicial Panel that he would like to discontinue the petition if it pleased the panel because the same petition is presently before the Human Rights Commission in Abuja.
The Oyo State Judicial Panel granted the petitioner’s application and petition OYJPPB/022 was thereby struck out.
2. Case No. OYJPPB/025
Alhaji Ganiyu Ajiboye Busari v The Nigeria Police, Oyo State Police Command. The petitioner was present and also represented by Kingsley Ike (Esq.) and I. C. Onouha. However, the respondent was absent at the hearing.
The legal counsel to the Oyo State Judicial Panel, Mrs Oluwafolake Ogundele, told the panel that the respondent had been served with the processes of the petition but was yet to respond. She therefore prayed the panel to afford the petitioner a date for hearing. However, the application was rejected because the panel insisted that all sides must be given fair hearing and so, the decision could not be made in the absence of the respondent.
The petition was adjourned by the Oyo State Judicial Panel till March 11, 2021 for mention.
3. Case No. OYJPPB/026
Thomas Chinedu Dim & Anor v Oyo State Police Command. The petitioner was present but was not represented by a legal counsel. The respondent was absent at the hearing. The petitioner told the panel that he does not have a lawyer and that today was the second time he would appear before the panel. He said that he relocated to Nsukka because his business crumbled after he was hospitalised for close to four years.
The legal counsel to the Oyo State Judicial Panel, Mrs Oluwafolake Ogundele, pointed out that there is a subsisting judgement of a Federal High Court dated 15th June, 2004; on the issue. The judgement which awarded over a million naira as damages in favour of the petitioner was yet to be paid, since the judgement involved a police officer who is on the run.
Having gone through the petition, the Oyo State Judicial Panel stated that what was needed concerning the petition was enforcement and this goes beyond the jurisdiction of the panel since the panel is not a Court of Appeal. However, the panel assured the petitioner that his petition would be directed to the National Assembly in Abuja because the two houses have committees who handle such cases. The panel said that the matter would be handled by writing and sending the documents to the appropriate quarters in Abuja. The panel also assured that the petitioner would be involved in the process and there was no need for the petitoner to appear before the panel again because he would be contacted by phone henceforth.
With this, the petition was adjourned sine die.
4. Case No. OYJPPB/028
Mr Faluade Dare Alabi v The Nigeria Police, Ojoo Police Station. The petitioner was present and was represented by O. I. Falana (Esq.). The respondent was absent at the hearing.
The legal counsel to the Oyo State Judicial Panel, Mrs Oluwafolake Ogundele, told the panel that the Police had been served but was yet to respond to the petition.
The petition was adjourned by the Oyo State Judicial Panel till March 11, 2021 for mention.
5. Case No. OYJPPB/030
Mrs Titilayo Joseph and Anor v Inspector-General of Police and Four Others. The petitioner was absent and was not represented by a legal counsel. The respondents were also absent at the hearing.
Mrs Oluwafolake Ogundele, the legal counsel to the Oyo State Judicial Panel told the panel that the respondents had been served but was yet to respond. She also said that the petitioner was represented at the last hearing by Tunde Olupona (Esq.) and could not explain the reason for the absence.
The petition was adjourned by the Oyo State Judicial Panel till March 9, 2021 for mention so as to issue a fresh hearing notice on the petitioner’s counsel, Tunde Olupona (Esq.).
6. Case No. OYJPPB/033
Mr Alao Olayiwola v The Nigeria Police Area “F” Command, Lagos. The petitioner was absent and was not represented by a legal counsel. The respondent was absent.
Mrs Oluwafolake Ogundele, the legal counsel to the Oyo State Judicial Panel told the panel that the respondent was Lagos State Police Command. She said the processes of the petition was served on the respondent on the 8th of February, 2021 but the respondent was yet to respond. She also said that the petition had appeared twice before the panel and there had been no representation whatsoever from the petitioner’s end on both occasions.
With this, the petition was adjourned by the Oyo State Judicial Panel till March 9, 2021 for mention or striking out, and a fresh hearing notice would be issued and served on the petitioner.
7. Case No. OYJPPB/035
Mr Muraina Kadiri Adeyemi v The Nigeria Police, Iyaganku. The petitioner was present but was not represented by a legal counsel. The respondent was not represented.
The petition was adjourned by the Oyo State Judicial Panel till March 10, 2021 for mention so as to enable the petitioner obtain the services of a pro bono counsel.
8. Case No. OYJPPB/036
Mr Oladejo Raphael v The Nigeria Police, Iyaganku. The petitioner was absent and was not represented by a legal counsel. The respondent was also absent at the hearing.
Mrs Oluwafolake Ogundele, the legal counsel to the Oyo State Judicial Panel said that the petitioner visited the panel’s secretariat on February 4, 2021 to inform the panel of his intention to withdraw the petition as the matter is presently before the Customary Court, Ibadan and he wrote a letter to that effect. A copy of the letter was submitted to the panel as evidence.
In view of the letter from the petitioner wherein he applied to withdraw the petition, the petition was struck out by the Oyo State Judicial Panel.
9. Case No. OYJPPB/037
Mr Ayanwale Jimoh v The Nigeria Police, Oyo State Command. The petitioner was absent and was not represented by a legal counsel. The respondent was also absent at the hearing.
This petition came up for the first time on February 2, 2021; as such, the Oyo State Judicial Panel decided to give the petitioner one more chance.
The petition was adjourned by the Oyo State Judicial Panel till March 10, 2021 for mention or for striking out.
10. Case No. OYJPPB/038
Mr Adegbite Nasiru v The Nigeria Police, Eleyele Ibadan. The petitioner was present and was represented by S. A. Oladele (Esq.). However, the respondent was absent. The petitioner’s counsel, S. A. Oladele (Esq.) said that at the last adjourned hearing, the respondent was ordered to serve him with the response to the petition, but he was yet to be served.
The petition was adjourned by the Oyo State Judicial Panel till March 10, 2021 for mention.
11. Case No. OYJPPB/039
Olamide Onikosi v The Nigeria Police, Iyaganku. The petitioner was present and was represented by Itunuoluwa Aderounmu (Esq.). The respondent was absent at the hearing.
Mrs Oluwafolake Ogundele, the legal counsel to the Oyo State Judicial Panel said that the respondent had been served but was yet to respond. However, the petitioner’s counsel, Itunuoluwa Aderounmu (Esq.) told the panel that he would like to make some amendments in the petition as it appeared vague.
The petition was therefore adjourned by the Oyo State Judicial Panel till March 11, 2021 to enable the petitioner’s counsel file the amendments to the petition.
12. Case No. OYJPPB/040
Adeyemi Adeniran v Nigeria Police, Alabebe Police Station. The petitioner was absent and was not represented by a legal counsel. The respondent was absent at the hearing.
The legal counsel to the Oyo State Judicial Panel, Mrs Oluwafolake Ogundele told the panel that the petition had appeared twice before the panel and the petitioner was absent on both occasions.
The petition was adjourned by the Oyo State Judicial Panel till March 11, 2021 for mention or striking out. It was decided that fresh hearing notice would be issued and served on the petitioner.
13. Case No. OYJPPB/053
Samuel Ogundeji v The Nigeria Police, Saki Area Command. The petitioner was present and was represented by O. F. A. Adeosun (Esq.). The respondent was absent at the hearing. The petitioner’s counsel recalled that he once made an attempt to withdraw from the petition because the petitioner’s contact person said he was not handling the matter as expected but he appeared today because the panel urged him to do so.
However, he told the Oyo State Judicial Panel that he met with the contact person, Adegbola N. Adesesan, and the petitioner’s family this morning and he got to know that they were not aware that he had filed the petition on his behalf. He appealed to the panel that he would like to continue representing the petitioner in view of the fact that the petitioner was not the one who gave the instruction and that he had been apologised to.
The petition is about a young man of 22 years who lost his sight four years ago due to police brutality. He wrote his WAEC and NECO exams in 2017 and he passed excellently. He applied for JAMB the same year but decided to work for a while in a hotel so as to avoid roaming about. He was arrested at the hotel he was working by SARS operatives a week to his JAMB exam and he was tortured to the extent that he lost his two eyes.
The legal counsel to the Oyo State Judicial Panel, Mrs Oluwafolake Ogundele, told the panel that the respondent had been served but was yet to respond. She therefore suggested that a date should be retained for mention.
The petition was therefore adjourned by the Oyo State Judicial Panel till March 11, 2021 for mention.
Having gone through the proceedings for today, the hearing was brought to a close by Hon Justice Badejoko Adeniji at about 11:47am.