The ISSJHR stated that if the number of human right violations perpetrated by the police were presented to the international community, Nigeria would be regarded as an “animal farm” and another Cambodia of the past.
Chancellor of the rights group, Chief Jackson Omenazu, expressed worry that Nigerians had continued to suffer in the hands of those paid to protect them, adding that the Human Rights Day was an opportunity for the security outfit to turn a new leaf.
Omenazu, who spoke in a telephone interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday, said the proposed reform of the Nigeria Police should be total, even as he observed that the security outfit, as an institution, was disconnected from the people.
He added that it was becoming difficult for the police to get information from members of the public as a result of the frosty relationship between the two of them.
The chancellor recalled that many Nigerians had lost their lives as a result of the overzealousness of the police and added that a change in the system was required for Nigerians to feel protected.
He said, “Go to the police station where they tell you that the bail for a suspect is free, the truth is that Nigerians end up paying to bail suspects. It is difficult for you not to part with money if you go to most police stations to bail anybody.”
The ISSJHR chancellor also accused government at all levels of the violation of the citizens’ economic rights through the refusal to provide housing, employment, education and healthcare for Nigerian.
PUNCH
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