The police have mounted a legal challenge against the judicial panels of inquiry that were constituted across the country since October.

The panels were raised to look into allegations of corruption and rights abuses against police officers, especially members of the now-outlawed special anti-robbery squad.

The constitution of the panels was also a major negotiation ground between the government and #EndSARS protesters in October. Several states from Lagos to Anambra have already started hearing cases on police abuses.

The police also expressed their support for the constitution of the panels in order address some outstanding issues of personnel misconduct. But on Thursday morning, The Nation reported that the police have filed charges in Abuja seeking to nullify further proceedings of judicial panels in Nigeria.

In suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1492/2020, the police sought to quash the panels across all states as unconstitutional.

Police lawyers led by Oyetola Atoyebi, a senior lawyer, said state authorities have no powers to hear allegations of wrongdoings amongst police officers, saying only the institution itself could administer personnel issues.

The legal challenge could frustrate ongoing hearings across the country, which had seen hundreds of Nigerians recount decades of police atrocities before panel members with the hope that there would finally be a restitution and closure to outstanding matters.