Police Abuse Of Powers: Group Charges FG To Take Decisive Action
A reputable Civil Rights Organization In Nigeria, Centre for Human
Rights and Social Justice (CHRSJ) has called the attention of
President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Government officials
against the unlawful continuous violation of fundamental human rights
of Nigeria citizens by the trigger happy personnel of security agents
in the country, noting that it has become unbearable for innocent
Nigeria citizens to continue with extra judicial killing and illegal
torturing by the security apparatus.
The group also appealed to the international human rights
organizations to come to aid of the victims of ongoing series of human
rights abuses in the land.
According to a Press Statement issued and signed by the group’s
Executive Chairman, Comrade Adeniyi, Alimi Sulaiman which copies were
made available to newsmen on Thursday after the group’s monthly
emergency meeting in Lagos to review the recent security challenges
facing the country from the hands of security personnel which they
were now violating the rights of the innocent Nigerians at will,
It alleged the Military personnel (Soldiers), Custom, Nigeria Police
Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) with the
Department of the States Security Services (DSSS) of their continue
undemocratic violation of citizens’ rights which is tantamount to the
breaking down of law and order they were supposed to maintain in the
society.
The group, which quoted and reminds President Muhammad Buhari on his
response to the recent unlawful murdered of innocent Nigeria Citizen
(Late Kolade Johnson) by the officers of the Nigeria Police that the
“Government will not tolerate in any way the brutalization of
Nigerians or the violation of their rights, which President further
say’s any officer of the security apparatus or any government
functionary who caught in this dastard act would not go unpunished,
adding that the President Buhari still made promised by admitting that
a lot of steps need to be taking to put the mind boggling incidents
under control.
The group further stated that, due to the above statement make the
group referred President Buhari to the reports of the Amnesty
International of Friday, September 19th, 2014 which still existing
till the present moment that “5,000 to 10,000 Nigerians in the
security agents custody, were commonly used techniques tortured that
similar with that of military in the war front in order to ensure that
he or she made confession to the offence they were not committed.
The group maintained that the Amnesty International revealed that the
report was tagged as “Welcome to hell Fire”, stressing that this
serious and authentic reports came out from the office of Director of
Amnesty International Research and Advocacy, after their visitation
and research to Nigeria Police Stations and Prisons for period of
Seven (7) Years and the said report was compiled from hundreds of
testimonies with evidence gathered for over Ten (10) Years.
According to the report, hinted on how women, men and children are
often detained illegally in large dragnet operations and torture,
include “beatings with whips, gun butts, machetes, batons, sticks,
rods, and cables as punishment to extort money or to extract
“confessions” as a shortcut to “solve” cases.
More over, the Amnesty International and it’s office of Research and
Advocacy still reported further through its Director that, torture and
other ill treatment by the Nigeria Law Enforcement Agencies and it’s
Agents routine and common throughout the length and breath of the
country, cited their bitter experiences in the North which, hundreds
of women and girls in Police and military custody are being subjected
to a range of physical and psychological torture, assault and other
ill treatment include “rape and sexual harassment, with inserting
bottles and other objects into a woman’s private part; Shooting people
in the legs, foot or hands during interrogation; extracting Nails,
teeth, fingernails and toenails with pliers; suspending detainees
upside down by their feet for hours and so on.”Amnesty International
lamented”.
In the face of avalanche of proofs and preponderance of evidence, the
Amnesty International tasked the country’s parliament to enact law
criminalizing torture with immediate effect and to take this long
overdue step without any further delay.
CHRSJ which strongly believed in the damning report of the Amnesty
International that the degree of molestation of innocent citizens by
the Nigeria Law Enforcement Agents in the guise of legal duty is
alarming and debunks all claims to democracy of the Nigeria nation as
the report also reveals how most of those detained are held
incommunicado, denied an access to the outside world, including
lawyers, families and the court, which it still thrives up till today
in all Nigeria Law Enforcement formations, most of the times, the
innocent will be arrested, intimidated, brutally assaulted unjustly
and not based on facts or law, “what errant nonsensical exhibition of
ignorance?
In as much the President is aware now that Nigeria law enforcement
agencies and it’s agents are fast becoming a despicable nuisance in
the sphere of operational illegalities and abject violation of the
Fundamental Human Rights of the citizens of this nation and this
nonsensical ignorance of Law perpetrated by this so called law
enforcement agents must be stopped now or to be stopped by the Mass
action with Political struggle and legal, which June 12 of 1993 to
1999 and Occupied Nigeria of 2012 will be a Child Play.”The group
advised”.
As the illiteracy and low intellectual capacity of these law
enforcement agents are exposed on physically abused of the citizens,
common assault, peculiar insult, blackmailing, harassment,
intimidation, illegality and marked the innocent for unlawful
detention, the CHRSJ still call Amnesty International, Human Rights
Watch, Transparency International, National Human Rights Commission
and host of others to rise up to the occasion by promptly takes the
urgent action against this persistent madness and its perpetrators,
who refused to have respect for the rule of law and not to desist from
disrespect of citizens rights,
It therefore urged the international organizations not to relent in
its efforts by continuing their visitation from time to time to the
security formations across the country, particularly in the area of
decongesting the nation’s Prison yard so as to rescue innocent
Nigeria citizens from the baptism of fire under Nigeria Security
agents watch.
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