Brutalisation, illegal detention of Nigerians must stop – HURIWA warns police

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has issued a call for an immediate end to alleged police harassment against innocent citizens, especially in some areas in Lagos.

HURIWA’s call follows alleged plans to charge some indigenes of the state to court over a family land dispute.

HURIWA said that it was not the responsibility of the police to settle family land disputes.

Recall that a few days back, the human rights association had raised an urgent call for the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to investigate allegations of unlawful demolitions carried out by suspected armed hoodlums allegedly accompanied by police officers.

The association emphasized the importance of upholding the rule of law and ensuring that justice was served for all parties involved in the dispute.

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Speaking on the planned protest coming up on August 1, HURIWA warned the police not to bring its alleged nature of brutality to the streets.

The rights group, which said it was neither backing nor opposing the planned protest, pointed out that it was the legitimate right of the citizens.

It said, “The police should provide protection to the citizens and not brutalise them. They must avoid inflicting physical torture on Nigerian citizens.

“If any citizen or group decides to embark on any peaceful gathering, be it protest… we don’t have any position concerning the protest… There’s nothing wrong with citizens expressing their position.

“We are calling on the police to end the regime of brutality because if a democracy wants to collapse, the fastest negative indicator that will indicate collapse of democracy is police brutality and harassment of citizens like the case we’ve just discussed.

“The life of every Nigerian should matter to the security forces.

“No citizen should be subjected to brutality, undue harassment, arbitrary arrest, illegal detention and all sorts of activities that undermine constructional democracy and principle of rule of law and deny citizens constitutional guaranteed fundamental human rights.”