Suspected Hoodlums Beat Up Petrol Station Owner In Delta

Pandemonium broke out Monday in Asaba, the Delta State capital, following an attack on the Chief Executive Officer of a popular petrol station around summit junction (name withheld) by suspected hoodlums during the #ENDSARS protest.

The hoodlums who were together with #EndSARS protesters, according to a Keke rider, blocked the Asaba/ Benin expressway in the early hours of October 19, 2020, causing traffic grid along the busy expressway.

The source who pleaded anonymity said trouble started after the private security men allegedly hired by the petrol station owner to stop the protesters from gaining entrance into the filling station.

The source said: “The protesters were staying under the shade of the Rainoil Filling station before the private bouncers started fighting them

“Then all the protesters bounced on them and beat them up. It was during the process that they confirmed that it was the owner of the petrol station that ordered to push them out, which prompted them to trace him to his office and beat him mercilessly”.

Meanwhile, the Delta Government has established a Special Victims’ Support Fund for the payment of monetary compensation to deserving victims of police brutality or related extra-judicial killings in the state.

The Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa who made the disclosure in Asaba while inaugurating an eight-member Judicial Panel of Enquiry into police brutality and other human rights abuses in the state, said the constitution of the panel was in line with the directive of the National Economic Council, NEC headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Charging the body to bring justice to victims, Okowa said it was unfortunate that those empowered to protect the lives of Nigerians were killing and brutalising them. He urged the panel to unearth all human rights abuses by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of Nigeria Police Force and deliver justice to the victims and succour to grieving families.

He also charged the panel to evolve ways that culprits of police brutalization and killing of Nigerians would be dealt with, and expressed optimism that the enquiry would bring about total reformation and transformation of the Police Force for the good of the country.

“Today, we earnestly commence the process of bringing about restitution and healing for countless number of Nigerians, particularly the youth, who have been victims of police brutality, extortion, unlawful detention, and/or extra-judicial killings.

“In the more than one week that the EndSARS protests began, the news media – conventional and online – have been inundated with tales of woes that innocent Nigerians have experienced in the hands of the now-dissolved Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force.

“Some of the stories we have heard are heart-rending and it is unfathomable how these gruesome acts could have gone on unnoticed for years.

“Interestingly, the EndSARS protests were triggered by an event in Ughelli, Delta State. It is a tragedy that so many young lives have been brutalised and allegedly wasted at the hands of those who were supposed to protect and serve the people.

“I join my voice to that of the Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, in apologizing for the failure of leadership to detect and address these anomalies early enough.

“Rising from its meeting last week, the National Executive Council, chaired by the Vice-President, directed the immediate establishment of State-based Judicial Panels of Enquiry across the country to receive and investigate complaints of police brutality or related extra-judicial killings. Today’s inauguration follows that directive”.

The governor listed the terms of reference for the enquiry as “to receive and investigate complaints of police brutality or related extra-judicial killings committed within Delta State with a view to ascertaining their validity or otherwise, and to recommend compensation or other remedies.