#EndSARS: House of Reps to include compensation for victims in 2021 budget

Nigeria’s House of Representatives on Tuesday assured families of victims of police brutality, extortion, harassment and extrajudicial killing of adequate compensation

Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila made the disclosure during Tuesday’s plenary session.

Gbajabiamila announced that adequate compensation will be made for families of those who lost their lives as a result of police brutality in the budget.

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday presented a record 13 trillion-naira budget for 2021 to members of the National Assembly.

The spending plan, according to Buhari, is about 21% rise from the revised 2020 spending plan of 10.8 trillion naira.

While the budget has been submitted to the National Assembly, the legislators are expected to make inputs in the country’s spending plan for 2021.

The Speaker reaffirms that police reforms will kick start in earnest including meetings with the Nigeria Bar Association and the Nigeria Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on getting justice for victims of police brutality.

The House of Reps’ intervention is coming days after Nigerians, especially youths continued protesting against by police personnel, particularly the defunct controversial Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS).

Although the inspector general of police Mohammed Adamu has announced that the controversial police unit has been dissolved but Nigeria youths want an end to cases of use of force and firearms on them by police personnel.

The protest which is ongoing in major states of the country has continued to record similar cases of abuse and two confirmed deaths – one in Lagos and Oyo State.

Many of the protesters are seeking compensation for the lives lost and extortion by policemen compensated.

Buhari on Monday said he has directed an investigation into the death of one of the protesters in Oyo State – Jimoh Ishaq who was shot by police on Saturday.

The president assured Nigerians that the dissolution of SARS was one of the steps the government was taking to reform the Nigeria Police.