Apo killings: Rights commission denies indicting Adoke

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has said it did not indict the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation and Minister of Justice Mohammed Bello Adoke in its ruling on last September’s killings of eight migrant workers near Apo legislative quarters.

The commission had on Monday indicted the Nigerian Army and the Department of the State Security (SSS) for the killings. It ordered compensation to the families of those killed.

Some media reports had suggested that the Attorney General was also indicted.

But in a letter to the AttorneyGeneral dated April 8, which was obtained by Daily Trust, the commission said there was no place where Adoke was mentioned on the issue.

The letter, signed by the Executive Secretary/CEO of the commission Professor Ben Angwe, read in part: “I wish to state here clearly that at no point was the conduct of the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation in question or even mentioned in the proceedings before the commission.

“And in fact, the office of the Honourable AttorneyGeneral of the Federation acted as Judge Advocate to the commission in the proceedings. Consequently, any publication that the commission indicted the Attorney-General of the Federation is not only untrue but also a clear departure from the decision of the commission which was pronounced publicly,” it said.