Amid the persistent insecurity plaguing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and the alarming wave of attacks and killings by kidnappers and armed assailants, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on the National Assembly to consider implementing death sentences for perpetrators.
In a statement released Yesterday, Emmanuel Onwubiko, the National Coordinator of HURIWA, criticized the Nigerian Police for prematurely parading suspects in the media before conducting thorough investigations.
Onwubiko highlighted the ineffectiveness of this approach, pointing out that while the police showcase individuals labeled as ‘notorious’ kidnappers to the public, actual armed terrorists and masterminds of kidnappings operate freely in remote forests, carrying out their nefarious activities without fear of apprehension.
Expressing dismay over recent events, Onwubiko cited the tragic killing of one of the seven individuals abducted from Kuduru community in the FCT as evidence of the flawed strategy employed by the police. He emphasized the need for law enforcement agencies to prioritize comprehensive and robust enforcement actions over mere media spectacle and propaganda.
“HURIWA is also proposing to the National Assembly to amend the counter terrorism legislation to prescribe the death penalty by hanging for kidnappers and terrorists just as the Rights group said all the sections of Nigeria must wage determined war against terrorists and kidnappers by adopting swift death sentences for these people that have subjected Nigerians to callous ordeals in the forests.”
“HURIWA recalled that the bandits stormed the area and abducted the victims on December 28, 2023 just as a community source revealed to the media that the victim, Olayinka Ogunyemi, was killed after members of the families of the hostages failed to pay the N290 million demanded.”
Reacting to the sad news of the killing of the abducted Abuja resident, the prominent civil rights advocacy group, decried the excessive penchant for hasty media propaganda by the police instead of consolidating on the job of making sure that all loose ends that give way to the heightened state of insecurity are tied and for the cops to meticulously, diligently arrest, investigate and present to the office of the prosecutor for the diligent and efficient prosecution in the court of law of these terrorists, the police prefers hurried media propaganda to market what they erroneously perceive as milestones or policing masterstrokes.
“HURIWA expressed consternation and worry that the state of insecurity in Abuja has not abated just as the Rights group asked the Nigeria Police Force to change their strategies from that of hurried media propaganda to that of diligent policing which should be focused towards arresting the right suspects, carrying out thoroughbred investigations to build up formidable body of evidence that would be so watertight that the suspected terrorists through their lawyers wouldn’t be able to defeat the cases of the state against them.”
“Qualitative convictions and the harshest punishment can be meted out to the suspects after which the police can then showcase their achievements if necessary rather than jumping the gun and parading suspects at the middle of investigative activities and by so doing, muddle up and expose the police’s weaknesses to the suspects and the lawyers lining up to defend them.”
“HURIWA has also expressed surprise that till date, the law enforcement agencies are still incapable of tracking telephone conversations of terrorists who embark on extensive negotiations with relatives of their victims for ransom payments, when in actual fact, the DSS, the police and other law enforcement agents have a way of tracking down perceived political adversaries of the powers-that-be through their telephones as was the case when the former Senate Minority leader Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe was arrested from a barbing saloon in Abuja by the DSS through a trail of his telephone conversations.”
The Rights group is urging the police and all other law enforcement agencies including the military and the Department of State Services, to jointly work together to wipe out the terrorists and kidnappers so Nigerians can once more sleep with their two eyes closed just as the Rights group said food insecurity will worsen if the security agencies are not able to crush terrorists and kidnappers who are the greatest threats to national security, food security and human security in Nigeria.