The International Federation of Human Rights, IFHR in conjunction with the Freelance Journalist Federation, ( FJF) have called on the Nigerian Police Force to respect human rights of civilians and immediately release the duo of Mustapha Buhari Aliyu and Aliyu Buhari Aliyu who are currently being unjustly incarcerated by officers and men of Intelligence Response Team (IRT)
The duo are currently being detained by the Nigerian Police on false allegations of involvement in kidnapping and ransom taking.
Rev Oduma Abel of the FJF, Comrade Joshua Attah, the National Coordinator(IHRF) and Reverend Solomon Semaka Solomon of the Save Nigeria Movement, SNM spoke to the media in Abuja while reacting to the continued incarceration of the duo.
The group said the IRT of the Nigerian Police Force has been variously engrossed in gross violations of human rights with persistent and unabating complaints from a cross section of Nigerians.
They insisted that the most recent and most disturbing of these dastardly acts by the police Intelligence Response Team has been the bizarre invasion of Kagarko, a community in Kaduna State on the 21st of March, 2024 by IRT operatives and the gestapo styled abductions of two innocent brothers on the trumped up allegations of involvement in kidnapping and ransom taking.
“The fact that this illegality has been committed at the instance of a known notorious bandit warlord who was out to take revenge on the innocent father of the two brothers has generated global attention and if left unaddressed might lead to a break down of law and order. This is totally unacceptable in a democracy and we are vehemently opposed to this rascality and illegality.
“Following repeated complaints and interventions from lawyers to the accused brothers, Y.C Maikyau & Co, an appeal from the Kagarko Emirate Council as well as an intervention from Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), a famous human rights watchdog exonerating the accused brothers and without the Nigerian Police Force granting the necessary reliefs sought by releasing the innocent victims, we decided, in line with our core mandate and responsibility as Pro- democracy Civil Society Organizations dedicated to minimizing incidents of human rights abuse by security agents, we undertook an independent fact finding mission to verify the presence and elements of human rights violations allegations against the Intelligence Response Team of the Nigeria Police Force” the group said
The group in its preliminary findings released to the media said, “On March 21 2024, some officers of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Nigeria Police Force according to eye witnesses in a gestapo manner invaded a local community in Kaduna State called Kargarko in an operation that ended up with the illegal arrest and abduction of two innocent citizens of Fulani origin, Mustpha Buhari Aliyu and his brother Aliyu Buhari Aliyu all children of Buhari Aliyu, all residents of Kargarko community. Credible sources in the course of our investigation revealed that the police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) acting on apparent instructions of a known bandit and criminal in the community by name of Muhammad Sani alias “Abacha ” was on a mission to carry out a threat earlier issued to the victims father by the same criminal bandit. All information and facts on the matter point to the glaring conspiracy by the officers of the IRT to undermine the rule of law in total disregard for human rights and professionalism just to please a notorious bandit.
“Our findings further indicate that following the illegal actions of the IRT of the police , the Kargarko Emirate Council, as well as the the president of the Nigeria Bar Association and other Community Based Interest groups wrote to attest to the innocence of the two victims who are being framed for kidnapping by the police. It is worth noting that no individual shall be arrested without a warrant and detained beyond ( 24) hours without being charged without a valid court order. The Nigeria Police Force in gross violations of both local and international laws have chosen to conspire with a known bandit just to teach the innocent victims and their father a lesson.
“It is even more worrisome as reports have emerged that the said Sani Muhammad alias Abacha who is behind the continued incarceration of two innocent citizens is a known bandit who has been recruited into the Nigeria Police Force in the guise of police informant according to HURIWA in a release on March 30 , 2024 and signed by Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko” they said. This development has been collaborated by the Kargarko Emirate Council as well.
They further condemned in very strong terms the arrest of innocent civilians without any warrant or reasonable cause of action and more importantly without any charges before our law courts. We view the continued detention of two innocent citizens by the Nigeria police authorities as a dent on the vision of the current administration of president Bola Ahmed Tinubu which has subscribed fully to the rule of law.
They also called on the Inspector General of Police to direct the affairs of the Nigeria Police Force in line with the rule of law so as to imbibe professionalism and respect for human rights by the rank and file of the Force.
“We call on the National Human Rights Commission to investigate the circumstances of the illegal arrest and abduction and detention of Mustpha Buhari Aliyu and Aliyu Buhari Aliyu by the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Nigeria Police Force and publish the report.
” We call on the Senate and House of Representatives Committees on Human Rights and Public Petitions to intervene in order to save the state from consequences citizens revolt.
“We call on the United Nations Commission on Human Rights to intervene in the multiple cases of human rights abuse by the Nigeria Police Force and call the unconditional release of the victims who are currently held under dehumanizing conditions without probable cause by the police.
” We call on the Minister of police Affairs to intervene and call the police authorities to order so as to keep track with the vision and philosophy of Mr President which is clearly in favor of the rule of law.
” We demand for the unconditional release of the duo of Mustpha Buhari Aliyu and Aliyu Buhari Aliyu from police illegal detention as the police have nothing against the innocent civilian victims.
” We state as a matter of fact that the duo of Mustpha Buhari Aliyu and Aliyu Buhari Aliyu who are currently being detained by officers of the police IRT are law abiding citizens who are well known with cattle rearing as a legitimate means of livelihood and are not criminals as being portrayed by the police.
“We advice the police authorities to take into consideration the mood of the country and act with professionalism so as to avert citizens revolt which could lead to the break down of law and order.
“We demand on all Human Rights groups and the media to call on the police authorities to release the innocent citizens who are unjustly been kept under custody and desist from further abusing citizens rights.
“We demand to know if the Nigerian Police Force has any other agenda by arresting innocent people on the orders of criminal bandits and why are they not charging the victim to court as it is required by law? Why did the police Intelligence Response Team arrest without warrant? Why did they ignore the testimony of Kagarko Emirate Council on the innocence of the two victims? Why continued detention without trial? Is there any motive behind this? Is the Police Force trying to provoke crisis? These and many other questions are begging for answers and we expect the Nigerian Police Force to provide the needed answers and act professionally henceforth.
“Ladies and gentlemen of the press, armed with the above facts, we believe that as the conscience and mirror of the nation, you will prevail on the police authorities to release the innocent victims in order to restore citizen confidence in the police force.
“Failure by the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT) to heed our advice to take the path of rule of law by releasing the innocent victims under custody, we shall have no option than to protest against police brutality before the National Assembly, UN and the Human Rights Commission to register our collective displeasure with police brutality on citizens” they added
