Mr. Onochie Ngwu, the Secretary to the Enugu State Police Brutality and Extra Judicial Killings panel, says the panel is working assiduously to submit its final report by August ending.
He disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Monday, saying, “by the grace of God we are going to submit the final report before August ending”.
According to him, the panel received 147 petitions, 60 were treated, while 35 cases were transferred to the administrative panel, because they did not fall within its jurisdiction.
Ngwu said the remaining 52 petitions were abandoned by the owners, as they refused to appear before the panel, in spite of several reminders.
The Secretary said the panel had an extension of time, owing to the volume of the petitions within four months.
“We were given six months, but due to the volume of the petitions before us, we applied for extension.
” The time was extended to ten months and within this period, we experienced the strike by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria (JUSUN) that lasted for almost two months.
“In spite of the strike, we are still working towards the deadline given to us, and that is why I said, we do not have much challenges.
Ngwu, who is also a lawyer, said the panel had concluded its sitting, and was now working to meet the deadline.
The secretary said, our seating was smooth accept that some petitioners submitted their petition and went home to relax.
“We have to go on air to re-awaken their conciousness to the petition, we also faced the problem of counsels absence to hearing.
He promised residents of the state that the panel would come up with good findings.
The Secretary, expressed the hope that people and the government would value the outcome of the panel. (NAN)
