Lorine Emenike
Coalition of Concerned Civil Society Organization has expressed worry over the rising cases of police brutalities in Rivers State.
The group said in Port Harcourt on Wednesday that it is particularly worried over the gruesome murder of Chima Ikwunado; Chibuike Daniel Ikeagwuchi aka sleek; W/ Sgt Lavender Elekwachi; Gospel Gbaraka and the keke driver who was shot dead in Rukpokwu town.
They also cited the torture of Victor Ogbonna, Osaze Friday, Ifeanyi Osuji, and Ifeanyi Onyekwerre.
Mrs Flora Asieri, senior program officer of the Stakeholders Democracy Network said they are determined to ensure that justice is served in cases relating to human rights abuse.
She pointed out that beforehand, there was a shrink of civic space in River State, as a lot of CSOs did not focus on issues relating to human rights abuses.
She said that there will be a collaboration between the CSOs in the Niger Delta and in Rivers State particularly, to ensure that some of these issues relating to human rights abuses are addressed.
On his part, Mr Amaechi Kelechi Justine, the program convener, and the project coordinator of Coalition of Concerned Civil Society Organizations in Rivers State said the coalition of civil society organizations in the state are worried about the perennial cases of police murder and police brutality.
“The Coalition of Concerned Civil Society Organizations in Rivers state is also perturbed by the unconscionable manner in which the relevant government institutions are handling such important matters with political considerations.
“The community of organized civil society actors, enlightened legal and media advocates are aware that the Anti-Torture Act passed in 2017 as a law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, prohibits torture, penalizes torture with a term of 25 years imprisonment and section 7(4) of the said Act stipulates that the commanding officer of the unit concerned is held liable as an accessory to the crime for any act of omission or negligence on his part that may have led to the commission of torture by his subordinates. Hence this provision creates and places strict liability on the commanding officer”.
“As such, our coalition hereby calls on the Attorney general of Rivers State, the Nigeria police and their prosecution teams to act swiftly in revisiting the case files and section 7(4) of the Anti Torture Act 2017 in order to determine the right action to take, to prosecute SP Benson Abisoye and the investigating police officers; to ensure respect for the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and to win the trust of the people who are watching keenly to see a composite justice for Chima Ikwunado and the entire humanity affected by this heinous, insensitive and immoral acts of the erring police officers.
“Our coalition of human rights advocates and defenders is giving the Attorney general of Rivers state and other relevant authorities a 14 days ultimatum to begin the prosecution of SP. Benson Abisoye and the I.P.O in order to avoid a second wave of multiple escalations of the matter both nationally and internationally”
