Obaseki cautions against reoccurrence of #EndSARS protest, receives panel report

Edo issues 6,500 C-of-Os in three years, digitises 30,000 legacy files
Edo State Governor, Godwin Obaseki, yesterday, said last year’s #EndSARS demonstration was a pointer to the injustices in the country and cautioned against reoccurrence of the protests.

He stated this when the state judicial panel of inquiry on police brutality and extra-judicial killings submitted its report to him at the Government House, Benin City.

Obaseki, who expressed gratitude to the chairman and members of the panel for their diligence and efforts, said: “I commend members of security agencies, who were part of the panel. I understand the pressure and tension that would have existed in the deliberations and hearings in the last nine months.

“We have just received the report and we need to go through it with great diligence. I assure you that we review all the recommendations made and take necessary actions.”

Chairman of the panel, Justice Ada Ehigiamusoe, who presented the report to the governor, said 135 petitions have been considered to receive awards, pending the governor’s approval.

She explained that in the course of proceedings, 170 petitions were filed, 25 were struck out for lack of diligence, while 10 were dismissed for lacking merit.

“We recommended payment of compensations to the victims and their families for police brutality. We also recommended enforcement of all the judgments in debts, as granted by the courts, which the police have not complied with till date,” she said.

BESIDES, the Obaseki administration has issued over 6,500 Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-Os) in three years and digitised over 30,000 files inherited from the Midwest Region through Bendel and Edo States.

Managing Director, Edo State Geographic Information Service Agency (EdoGIS), Frank Evbuomwan, disclosed this yesterday in Benin City.

“In the history of the old Midwest region to Edo State, we have a record of about 30,000 C-of-Os and other land titles. We have digitised over 30,000 legacy files, which were carried from the Midwest through Bendel to Edo State.

“We have moved the physical files from the old to digital files and we now have electronic copies of over 30,000 legacy land files,” he said.