A human rights group, Citizens Unite for Rehabilitation of Errants (CURE-Nigeria) has tasked the Nigeria police force to declare the number of detainees being held by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to the public.
The group which hailed the Acting President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, for directing the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris to overhaul SARS, also demanded that all detainees and awaiting trials in the police cells and prisons across the country be charged to court to seek justice.
CURE-Nigeria passionately appealed to the Federal Government to ensure that police carry out the action.
In a statement made available to The Nation, the organization’s Executive Director, Mr. Sylvester Uhaa, noted that the Acting President’s directive, “although belated, is a welcome development and a right step in the reformation of the Police,” adding that, “SARS has been identified with human rights violation and abuse of power, which has overshadowed its good work.”
Uhaa, however, pointed out that, “although SARS has contributed tremendously to the fight against violent crimes and criminality, and to the maintenance of law and order, it has operated largely outside the law, earning a bad name for itself, the Nigeria Police Force, and Nigeria at large.
“The operations of any law enforcement must be guided by the law that created it, not by lawlessness, arbitrariness and disregard for human rights, which has guided SARS operations since its creation. And we cannot allow this to continue.
“But, we ask the Federal Government to take a step further to direct SARS to charge all suspects in their detention camps to court so that suspects can have access to justice and fair trial and this may lead to some gaining freedom, as some of the suspects may be innocent of the alleged offences.”
He further stated that, “In addition, the Federal Government should direct the IGP and all detaining authorities to declare the number of people in their detention so that Nigeria will know the number of people in their detention facilities.
“For now, we only know the number of people in prison, and this is not right. Suspects in police cells are left at the mercy of their captors and jailers, some of whom treat them like animals.
“Finally, we demand that the current administration make use of the recommendations made by Federal Government Committees on prison congestion in the past to decongest the prisons.
“The continued detention of people without trial for years in our police cells and prisons violates the basic fundamental human rights to fair trial, equality of all human beings under the law and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and international human rights law.” - The Nation
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