The establishment of a Bureau for Missing Persons within the State Ministry of Justice has received approval from the Anambra State Executive Council.
The establishment of the Bureau is part of the interim recommendation previously made by the Truth, Justice, and Peace Commission in its Inception Report previously submitted to Governor Charles Soludo State in February, according to a release signed by the State Commissioner for Information Sir Paul Nwosu.
According to the press release, the Bureau’s duties include tracking down cases of missing people and creating the necessary databases to aid in police investigations and, if necessary, the Ministry of Justice’s prosecution of suspects.
It be recalled that on June 23, 2022, Governor Soludo, pursuant to the Commission of Inquiry Law of Anambra State, inaugurated the Truth, Justice and Peace Commission which has Professor Chidi Anselm Odinkalu as the chairman, Ambassador Bianca Odumegwu Ojukwu as the Secretary and Professor Sylvia Chike Ifemeje as one of its Commissioners.
The release added that Commission’s Inception Report also recommended a government strategy that locates atrocity and violence within a public health framework, professionalization and effective coordination of vigilante services in the state, institutionalizing deliverables for the Ministry of Security and Homeland Affairs, establishing an Anambra Integrated Civic Surveillance System, and establishing an Anambra State Safety and Environmental Commission.
It noted that the Commission’s initial terms of reference included identifying the remote and immediate causes of the agitations, restiveness, violence and armed struggle in the Southeast since 1999; documenting victims and circumstances of death, brutality and incarceration as well as identifying stakeholders and groups who have played critical roles in agitations and conflicts, their roles, capabilities and demands, address any other issue that may be germane to unravelling the extent of the crisis and charting the roadmap for the future and make recommendations for sustainable peace and security in Anambra and Southeast.
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