Tope Temokun, a human rights lawyer based in Ondo State, has asked the Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up by the state government to look into cases of police brutality, killings, and extortion, to stop demanding death certificates of victims of police killings from their family members.
This panel called on members of the public especially victims of police brutality to begin the submission of written memoranda/petitions.
Speaking on Friday in Akure, the state capital, Tomekun kicked against the demand and explained that most deaths that occurred from police brutality do not usually allow for the gathering of direct evidence.
The legal practitioner added that for the panel to genuinely tow the path of justice for the aggrieved, it should stop the demand for death certificates of victims, who lost their lives to police brutality.
According to him, the consequential effect of making photographs, death certificates and or forensic evidence as requirements for the presentation of memorandum for compensation by the family or dependent(s) of the dead victim would only incite denial of access to justice for those with genuine cases, who do or did not meet up with the requirement.
He said, “The essential liberal character of the panel would have been lost to undue legalism.
“The interested parties who could not show proof of relationship to victims should be allowed to sponsor and submit a memorandum for the benefit of indigent members of the public.”
Secretary of the panel, Mr Lanre Amuda, had asked members of the public, who have been victims of police brutality to submit a memorandum to the panel latest Monday, November 16, 2020, at the Ondo State Security Network Agency (Amotekun Corps).
