Extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests, others haunting Nigeria’s rights record – DIG Argungu

Extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests, searches and detentions, sexual abuses, and others have been listed as issues tainting the nation’s Human Rights record globally.

The Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), DIG Hashimu Argungu (retd), made this disclosure during his collaborative visit to the National Human Rights Commission.

Argungu was on an advocacy campaign for the respect of human rights for Nigerian citizens and the recognition and protection of the rights of victims of crime.

DIG Argungu and a delegation from the PSC were at the Corporate Headquarters of the Human Rights Commission in Abuja, where he met with the executive secretary, Dr. Tony Ojukwu, and members of the management team.

He recalled his days as a member of the Anti-SARS Panel that sat at the Human Rights Commission office, where he noted the cooperation he enjoyed throughout his membership.

He, however, remarked that more efforts are still required of the Human Rights body to combat human rights abuses in Nigeria.

The PSC Chairman noted that extra-judicial killings, illegal arrests, searches and detentions, and sexual abuses as some of the issues still haunting the nation’s Human Rights record, which he charged the Commission to find a way to mitigate or eliminate.

DIG Argungu also frowned at the parade of suspects in chains and the neglect of victims of crime. He called for a balance in the justice system where attention should also be given to victims of crime and not only to the suspects.

The PSC Chairman said it was a mockery of the criminal justice system, stressing that some of the Nigerian laws are obsolete and need fresh impetus.

The PSC Chairman welcomed a collaborative partnership with the Human Rights Commission and announced that the PSC will henceforth involve them in its recruitment processes.

The Executive Secretary, in his remarks, told his visitors that the Human Rights Commission is building a digitised platform for processing human rights cases and noted that the platform will be linked to the Commission so that the two government agencies will, in partnership, take the war against abuses to the next level.

Dr. Ojukwu said the nation cannot continue to watch the abuse of the human rights of citizens and appealed to the PSC Chairman to partner with his Commission to give the nation something to cheer.

He also hoped that with DIG Argungu, who was a member of the Panel on the Anti-SARS riot, as Chairman of the PSC, most of the unresolved cases would be brought to conclusion.