A committee that was established by Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission has made a recommendation that a number of police personnel be fired and brought to justice for their involvement in acts of torture, extrajudicial executions, and illegal detentions.

The committee, which was established in the wake of widespread street demonstrations against police brutality in 2020, has not disclosed how many officers it believes should be fired or prosecuted, but it has indicated that this information would be made public at a later date.

The committee, which is being led by an experienced judge named Sulaiman Galadima, has also mandated that victims of police abuse be compensated for their losses.

The first payments of this kind were made earlier this month to dozens of victims or the families of victims, totaling over $700,000 (£649,000). These were the first payments of this kind since the national panel was established.

The Special Anti-Robbery Squad, often known as Sars, was the target of demonstrations that took place over two years ago under the hashtag #EndSars. These demonstrations were in opposition to the notorious police squad.

They were successful in convincing the authorities to dissolve the unit, which had been established to combat violent crime such as armed robberies and kidnappings.

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