HURIWA tasks NASS on instituting judicial panel on alleged military onslaught, killings in South-east
12 September 2022 |
4:38 am
Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), yesterday, urged relevant human rights and judicial committees in both chambers of the National Assembly
[files] National Assembly. Photo/facebook/TopeBrown/NigerianSenate
Deplores lack of collective actions by South-east governors against insecurity, kidnappings
Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), yesterday, urged relevant human rights and judicial committees in both chambers of the National Assembly to institute a judicial panel of inquiry to probe the outrageous onslaught and alleged killings of civilians in the South-east geopolitical zone.
HURIWA’s national coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, expressed worry over the spate of well-coordinated kidnappings by suspected armed herdsmen in Imo River Bridge near Umunna Okigwe, Enugu/Lokpanta/Okigwe Roads and many instances of kidnappings in Owerri and other urban centres of the Igbo speaking Southeast of Nigeria.
The rights group stressed the urgent need for governors, political stakeholders and traditional institutions to collectively brainstorm and work out implementable measures to check the growing threats to the security of the Southeast by suspected armed terrorists.
According to HURIWA, the continuous successes recorded by these terrorists demonstrate the failures of the security forces or are they deliberate acts by heads of the security agencies domiciled in the Southeast and controlled by the President to continue to do nothing whilst security, law and order take a turn for the worst, leading to the eventual economic collapse of the Igbo states.
“From military exercises to other independent onslaughts, military men have allegedly committed extrajudicial killings in the Southeast geopolitical zone, going by accounts of witnesses.
“The military must face reality and painfully face the truth about extrajudicial killings by its officers deployed in the Southeast especially in the last two years.
“Amnesty International captured the extrajudicial killings in the Southeast when it said at least 115 innocent persons were tagged ‘militants’ and killed by security forces between March and June 2021 in the five states in the zone.
“Also, Intersociety alleged in January that state actors including police, soldiers, and DSS operatives, among others, killed about 1,400 residents and torched about 1,000 homes in 100 South-east communities within 14 months. There are other scores of unreported cases. These are allegations made with empirical evidence just as what is required is for a proper investigation to be carried out to ascertain the veracity or otherwise and if established as being factually accurate, then the perpetrators in uniform are identified and made to face the wrath of the law, so impunity is not institutionalised.
“HURIWA tasks relevant institutional platforms such as the National Assembly’s committees on public petitions, Judiciary and Human Rights to institute an independent judicial commission of inquiry so that the panellists can cross-examine witnesses including families of victims and eyewitnesses to get to the root of the groundbreaking allegations of extraneous killings by the military, police and the Department State Services (DSS) in the South-east over the past seven years as reported by Intersociety, Amnesty International and others.”
1 day ago
The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has warned newly-registered companies against paying certain fees to obtain tax identification number (TIN) amongst others. The management of CAC gave this warning in a statement on its X handle on Friday. CAC said it noticed email messages sent to directors of newly-registered companies. READ ALSO: CAC targets registration of…
1 day ago
A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed money laundering charges against former Attorney-General Mohammed Adoke. Justice Inyang Ekwo ruled on Friday that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) failed to present a strong enough case (prima facie case) against Adoke. EFCC alleged that Adoke sometime in August 2013 in Abuja accepted a cash…
1 day ago
The Kwara Government has said it will target about 1.5 million children between zero and five years of age, for polio vaccination across the 16 Local Government Area of the State.
1 day ago
Gov. Bassey Otu of Cross River says his administration has provided a matching fund of N100 million to scale up food and nutrition interventions in the state.
1 day ago
Senator Ede Dafinone, the lawmaker representing Delta Central Senatorial District in the Nigerian Senate, has expressed his heartfelt gratitude to President Bola Tinubu, the Chief of Defence Staff and the Chief of Army Staff for their instrumental roles in securing the release of His Royal Majesty, King Clement Ikolo, Urhukpe 1, the monarch of Ewu-Urhobo…
1 day ago
Officers from the Ikotun Police Division, Lagos State have rescued three children who had been locked in a room for days by their grandmother. Police spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, in a statement on Friday, stated that an investigation is ongoing on the matter. Hundeyin disclosed that the children have been kept safe while the grandmother…
1 day ago
A Volvo truck (unregistered) carrying loads of food items overturned in the Ojota area of Lagos on Friday, leaving its occupants with serious injuries.
1 day ago
A Federal High Court in Abuja has dismissed a suit filed by seven senior advocates of Nigeria against the National Judicial Council (NJC) and others over the alleged unlawful appointment of judges in Kogi.
1 day ago
At least 23 people have been killed in an attack by bandits on the Anguwar Danko community in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State, according to a community leader. The attack, which occurred Wednesday night, has yet to be confirmed by Kaduna State Police authorities. A leader in the community, Zubairu Abdulrahuf, told…
1 day ago
The Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) has placed former Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, on a watchlist. Immigration took this step after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Thursday declared Bello wanted. NIS placed Bello on the watchlist in a circular dated April 18 and signed by Assistant Comptroller of Immigration, DS Umar, for…
×
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
0 Comments
We will review and take appropriate action.