Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has warned personnel of the Nigeria Police, especially those operating in Imo State, to be professionally circumspect on how they go about arresting, coercing, parading, and slamming allegations on people in Imo State.
The group said media trials of suspects by the police, especially in the South-East of Nigeria must be discouraged and discontinued so the principle of rule of law could be upheld all the time.
The police, HURIWA insisted, were not above the law and must comply totally with the provisions of the law since it is a creation of the law.
HURIWA has also cautioned the police to understudy the South East where they are posted from all parts of the country, so they get acquainted with the socio-cultural practices and traditions of the people of the region to avoid the unlawful arrest of members of the African traditional Religions on the disguised allegations that they were using their shrines to pray for persons perceived as being responsible for the spate of attacks that targeted strategic national security assets in the South East of Nigeria.
HURIWA said: “These security forces have consistently attacked shrines of African traditional worshippers and have had to parade them as collaborators with the so-called unknown gunmen and at the end of the day, the police have failed to get any conviction from all these arrests. HURIWA condemned the attacks on strategic national security assets and have also condemned the killing of police operatives.”
The group also accused the police in the South East of Nigeria and especially the Imo State Command of the widespread use of extrajudicial execution of suspects in their detention facilities and during their security operations in parts of Imo State just as the Rights group said the allegations that police dump unidentified corpses of young Igbo boys in the Federal medical centre in Owerri, Imo State, was a serious indictment that must be investigated by the International Criminal Court in The Hagues Netherlands so those responsible for these crimes against humanity are prosecuted for these odious and gruesome killings.
