News
#EndSARS: Petitioner Dies Week Ahead Of Appearance, Before Lagos Panel
A petitioner, Basil Ejiagwa who was supposed to appear on Tuesday before the Lagos Judicial Panel on Restitution for victims of brutality by the now-disbanded SARS Operatives, is dead.
His cousin, Chukwu Vincent notified the panel that he died exactly a week ago, on the 17th of November, 2020.
Ejiagwa was scheduled as the third petitioner to be heard. When his case was called, his counsel Olalekan Gazali told the panel that “the petitioner is no more, we lost him last week as a result of the torture he underwent in the custody of SARS operatives.
The counsel said: “His wife came to the panel all the way from Imo State with his picture to show the state of his health but unfortunately the matter did not go on at the last sitting.”
Read also: Lekki Shooting: Lagos Panel Of Inquiry Issues Directives To Victims, Updates On Investigations
He prayed the panel to allow him call on a family member to testify on his behalf.
“He is being represented by a family member who has his death certificate, hospital bills other hospital records and is ready to testify on his behalf,” the counsel told the panel.
However, the counsel representing the police, Joseph Eboseremen raised an objection saying, “it can’t be proven that his death was directly caused by the torture from SARS as it took place a while ago,”
The Chairman of the Panel, Justice Doris Okuwobi agreed with him and struck out the statement.
Chukwu Vincent, a businessman who describes himself as a cousin to the deceased was then summoned to testify.
“According to Basil, he was arrested by men of the police, on his way from work at Alaba while going home. He was taken to Igando Police Station where he spent five days. They damaged his legs while hitting him with a hammer while he was there and he was later taken to Ikeja.
Read also: Lekki Shooting: Soldiers Did Not Report Any Death, Brigadier Taiwo Tells Lagos Panel
“We rushed him to El-Shaddai Hospital at Iba/Igando.
“The hospital results said the ‘hitting’ was responsible. He even travelled abroad at some point and it was him who filed this matter,” Vincent testified.
He added, “We noticed gashes on his head from where he claimed to have been beaten by police with their guns. He was eventually diagnosed with a brain tumor. The incident happened in 2014 and we tried to treat it till 2017. I spent my personal money too and as time went by, it got worse and he began to lose his memory.
“When his condition was too severe, the family decided to move him out of Lagos to the east, then we started searching for a good lawyer to take up the case.”
The Panel admitted in evidence hospital documents including photocopies of drug prescription forms and a bill of ₦1m for his treatment. The hospital documents came from the Lagos State Government General Hospital in Alimosho and the El-Shaddai Hospital also in the Iba/Igando area of the state.
The panel also admitted a ₦40million judgement the deceased obtained in his favour from a Federal High Court in Lagos on April 16, 2019.
Advertise or Publish a Story on EkoHot Blog:
Kindly contact us at [email protected]. Breaking stories should be sent to the above email and substantiated with pictorial evidence.
Citizen journalists will receive a token as data incentive.
Call or Whatsapp: 0803 561 7233, 0703 414 5611
