Yusuf Bakare
At the continued sitting of the #EndSARS panel of inquiry in Ilorin, Kwara state, two petitioners, Alh Kehinde Gobir and Alh Shuaib Jawondo yesterday gave graphic details of how men of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) tortured and humiliated them in order to implicate former Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki.
The petitioners who said that they were only political supporters of the former Senate President
narrated how the disbanded SARS operatives threatened and asked them to implicate the former Senate President, Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki during their alleged ordeal in detention.
Testifying before the #EndSARS panel of inquiry in Ilorin, Kwara state, the petitioners alleged high depth of impunity and human rights abuses were carried out by the SARS operatives who interrogated them to know their level of involvement in April 5, 2018 Offa bank robbery.
The duo, who claimed to have spent over 73 days in police detention in both Ilorin and Abuja, lamented that the police accused them of collecting guns from Saraki, to allegedly participate in the robbery operation.
The petitioners, who denied being used by Saraki for criminal activities, told the panel that they were tortured and subjected to dehumanizing conditions in both Ilorin and Abuja police detentions.
The petitioners also accused the disbanded SARS officers of confiscating their property, which include two Toyota Corolla, handsets and N250,000 collected before they were granted bail.
They urged the panel to help them redeem their battered image in the eyes of the public as they had been suggested to unwarranted stigmatization and disgrace which they said had affected their livelihood and economic fortune.
“In view of the foregoing and in the interest of justice, we urge your esteemed office to intervene swiftly to this situation by returning our property as this action is tantamount to infringement on the fundamental human rights to be enjoyed under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
“We did not participate in any crime nor involved in any Offa robbery killing or having any criminal records whatsoever as being wrongfully alleged by the SARS officers. We urge the panel to do the needful by facilitating the quick recovery of our property”, the petitioners said.
In his response, the police counsel, Adekunle Iwalaye, urged the panel to dismiss the petitions in their entirety. The chairman of the panel, Justice Tunde Garba (rtd) adjourned the matter to January 13, 2021.
