BREAKING: Youths Seeks Release of #EndSARS Report

• Ogun youths have urged Governor Dapo Abiodun to make public the report of the state’s Judicial Panel of Investigation on Police Brutality, Human Rights Violations and Extra-Judicial Killings, nearly five years after it was submitted.

Youths in Ogun State have called on Governor Dapo Abiodun to release the report of the state Judicial Panel of Investigation on Police Brutality, Human Rights Violations and Extra-Judicial Killings.

The youths, under the Ogun Youth Assembly, said making the report public would promote transparency and further strengthen the administration’s record on youth development.

In a letter addressed to the governor, the Chairman of the group, Habeeb Whyte, recalled that the report was formally presented to Abiodun on July 9, 2021, following the conclusion of the panel’s proceedings.

Whyte said the governor had, at the time, promised that the recommendations contained in the report would be implemented.

The panel was established by the Ogun State Government following the nationwide #EndSARS protests in 2020. It was chaired by retired Justice Solomon Olugbemi and tasked with investigating allegations of police brutality, human rights violations and extra-judicial killings.

According to Whyte, the panel provided an avenue for residents to submit petitions, appear before the proceedings and present evidence in the hope that the process would lead to justice and closure.

“I am not raising this issue from a distance. I witnessed the seriousness with which petitions were presented and the expectations of citizens who came before the panel,” Whyte said.

He noted that he served as Legal Adviser to the state Police Community Relations Committee during the period and said the panel received 106 petitions, out of which 58 were considered.

Whyte further stated that the panel produced a 289-page report containing several recommendations, including the payment of N218 million in compensation to 42 victims or their families.

However, he questioned the lack of publicly available information on what had happened to the recommendations several years after the report was submitted to the state government.

“The central question is straightforward: where is the report, and what has happened to its recommendations?” he asked.

According to him, the absence of publicly accessible information has left residents uncertain about the status of compensation payments, disciplinary measures and other matters that may have been referred to federal authorities.

The Ogun Youth Assembly urged the governor to publish the full report and provide an implementation matrix detailing each recommendation, the authority responsible for implementing it, actions already taken, outstanding steps and expected timelines.

Whyte also called on the government to provide documentation where compensation had already been paid and ensure that outstanding obligations were addressed in accordance with the law.

“Publishing the report should not be seen as an attack on the government. It is an opportunity for the administration to demonstrate confidence in its own processes and strengthen public trust,” he said.

The youth leader added that the matter remained important to young people in the state because the #EndSARS protests represented a major generational demand for dignity, accountability and responsible policing.

The nationwide #EndSARS protests in 2020, which focused largely on allegations of police brutality and abuses by security agencies, led several state governments to establish judicial panels of inquiry.

The panels were tasked with examining petitions from citizens, investigating alleged abuses and making recommendations, including compensation in cases where wrongdoing was established.

Rights groups and civil society organisations have continued to call on governments that have not made their reports public or fully implemented recommendations to provide greater transparency on the outcome of the investigations.