A bill seeking to compensate victims of the 2020 Endsars protest has scaled through second reading in the Senate.
In a report, Amnesty International, which has accused the military of extrajudicial killing, claimed that at least 12 people died and scores more were injured during the #EndSARS rallies.
Senator Gershom Bassey of the Peoples Democratic Party, Cross-River State, introduced the legislation with the working title “A Bill for an Act to Amend the National Emergency Management Agency Act.”
Bassey, in his lead debate, said the bill seeks to provide for the establishment of the #EndSARS Victims Compensation Fund.
According to the lawmaker, the victims have been left to continually groan under the pains of injury inflicted by hoodlums during the protest.
He said the eventual establishment of the fund and implementation of the recommendation of the judicial panel of inquiry and Senate Joint Committee on EndSARS would bring succour to the victims.
The measure proposes to establish an EndSARS Victims Compensation Fund, according to Bassey, who led the debate on the subject.
The legislator claims that during the rally, hoodlums injured the victims and left them to writhe in anguish.
He asserted that the ultimate creation of the fund and the application of the Senate Joint Committee on #EndSARS’s and the Judicial Panel of Inquiry’s recommendations would provide relief for the victims.
The EndSARS movement began in October 2020, when thousands of Nigerians, mostly young people, gathered on the streets to demonstrate against police brutality, especially that committed by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad police unit, which has since been dismantled.
The military got involved in the demonstration, especially in Lagos, which served as its epicenter, after it was hijacked by hoodlums right after going on for days in all of the country’s major cities.
In Abuja, the National Human Rights Commission was in charge of the probe.
In Bassey’s debate, he said, “Distinguished colleagues, you may recall that as a result of the #EndSARS nationwide protests in October 2020, judicial panels of inquiry were constituted to address the demands of protesters and compensation for verified victims of the #EndSARS protest.
“The findings of the judicial panels of inquiry and the Senate Joint Committee on #EndSARS revealed the killing of protesters, destruction of private and public properties by rampaging hoodlums, who seized and took over the protest, vandalising and looting valuable assets.
“However, the implementation of the recommendations of all the panels and committees regarding compensation has been very discouraging.”
“Mr President, distinguished colleagues, it is my prayer that you support this amendment bill that seeks to bring hope to the victims of the 2020 #EndSARS protest,” Bassey said.
