Breaking: Police Withdraw Lawsuit against #ENDSARS Panels

Breaking: Police Withdraw Lawsuit against #ENDSARS Panels.

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) on Friday, November 4, 2020, has applied to withdraw a lawsuit filed to suspend the #EndSARS judicial panels of inquiries initiated by the state governments to probe alleged cases of police brutality and other cases of human rights abuses.

The notice to withdraw the suit by another NPF lawyer, Festus Ibude reads: “Take notice that the plaintiff herein intends to and doth hereby wholly withdraws its suit against all the defendants.”

Gistlover had reported that the Nigeria Police Force had launched legal procedures to stop the #EndSARS judicial panels of inquiries. read here.

The Police in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1492/2020 filed on November 9, 2020 by its lawyer, Mr. O. M. Atoyebi before the Federal High Court in Abuja asked the court to stop the panels as the Police Force is not answerable to state governments under Nigeria’s constitution.

They argued that by virtue of the provisions of 241(1)(2)(a) and Item 45, Part 1, First Schedule to the Nigerian Constitution only the Federal Government had exclusive power to “organize, control and administer the Nigeria Police Force”.

The suit had wanted the court to decree the action of the various state governments as “unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.”

However, the IGP, Mohammed Adamu, expressed distraught for the court case and directed that immediate investigation be carried out on the suit and persons behind it.

He also submitted a query to the Force Legal Officer over the court case attempting to stop judicial panels.