The Lagos State House of Assembly is attempting to create the Lagos State Human Rights Committee in appreciation of the worth and rights of citizens and residents.
This was announced by Mr. Victor Akande, the chairman of the House Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights, Public Petitions, and LASIEC, during a stakeholders’ meeting on Wednesday at the assembly complex.
The committee, according to Akande, was established by a bill known as “A Law to Alter the Office of the Public Defender Law, 2015.”
He pointed out that it was crucial to attend a public hearing before any executive bill was sent to the Legislative House, and in this particular case, a stakeholders meeting was required to take the people’s comments into account.
The congressman said that putting together the Lagos State Human Rights Committee would help people realise that they are all equal and have the same rights.
He assured them that the measure would be examined closely and expanded where necessary by the Lagos State House of Assembly.
The chairman continued by saying that the House would draft a strong law that would address citizen complaints and seek for more effective ways to protect them.
Speaking, Mr. Femi Falana, a human rights activist, praised the executive branch for submitting the bill to the House as one of the resolutions developed at the EndSARS State Judicial Panels of Inquiry.
Falana pointed out that the Office of the Public Defender had been given the enormous duty of defending the rights of Lagos State citizens and visitors against the actions of public servants, private citizens, and organizations.
“The intended Human Rights Committee should be an independent body as it will be an agency that will register complaints and petitions of over 21 million people.
“It will also address international fora and organisations such as ECOWAS and the United Nations over human rights issues in Lagos, Nigeria and Africa,” he said.
Falana, who argued in favor of the agency’s independence, said the funding of the organization should also be autonomous because the majority of human rights organizations did not rely on government stipends.
In order to bridge the gap between the Nigerian Armed Forces and any human rights cases the committee would hear, he proposed that one senior officer from the Force be included in the committee’s membership.
Falana added that different human rights organizations in the state should be approached to request their memoranda following the stakeholders gathering.
The committee would need independent funding, according to Mrs. Olayinka Adenrera, director of the Office of the Public Defender in Lagos, who also noted that the office was already overburdened with human rights issues.
Additionally, Mrs. Bimbo Sowemimo from the Ministry of Justice stated that the state intended to put the EndSARS panel’s recommendations into practice.
According to Sowemimo, the amendment being sought is an effort to implement, oversee, and gauge its effectiveness within the system.
The Citizens Mediation Centre’s Chief State Counsel, Mrs. Semi Ogunfowode, also praised the procedure for the bill.
The committee, according to Ogunfowode, is evidence that the government cares for its citizens’ welfare.
