A bill to compensate victims of the ENDSARS protest was passed for second reading in the Senate on Wednesday.
Senator Bassey Gershom sponsored the proposed legislation titled ‘A Bill for an Act to Amend the National Emergency Management Agency Act,’ which sought to establish the Endsars Victims Compensation Fund.
Tens of thousands of Nigerian youths took to the streets in 2020 to protest police brutality.
During the nationwide Endsars protest, hoodlums seized and took over the protest, vandalising and looting valuable assets, killing some police officers and protesters and destroying public and private property.
Judicial panels of inquiry were constituted in different states to address the demands of the protesters and compensation for victims. However, there were complaints about the implementation of the panels’ recommendations.
Senator Bassey said establishment of the Fund and implementation of the recommendation of the judicial panel of inquiry and the Senate Joint Committee on Endsars would bring succor to the victims of the 2020 Endsars nationwide protest.
Senate President Ahmad Lawan referred the bill to the Committee on Special Duties.