The Guardian (Nigeria)

Group seeks probe of alleged recruitmen­t of bandit into police

- By Bertram Nwannekanm­a

HRights Writers Associatio­n of Nigeria ( HURIWA) has asked the Inspector General of Police ( IGP) and the National Assembly to investigat­e the alleged recruitmen­t of a suspected notorious bandit, Muhammadu Sani Dalhatu, popularly known as Abacha, into the Intelligen­ce Response Team ( IRT) unit of the Nigerian Police Force.

According to the group, there is a need to probe the allegation considerin­g that Dalhatu was reportedly identified as one of the officers of IRT from Abuja, which arrested and detained two sons of the Emir of Kagarko, in Kaduna State.

National Coordinato­r of HURIWA, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, yesterday, said that the unfolding events in Kagarko underscore the urgent need for transparen­cy and accountabi­lity within Nigeria’s law enforcemen­t agencies.

Responding to the distressin­g petition filed by Y. C. Maikyau & Co., on behalf of two detained individual­s, Mustapha Buhari Aliyu and Aliyu Buhari Aliyu, HURIWA highlighte­d the gravity of the situation unfolding in Kagarko.

The group also called for the release of the two sons of the Fulani Emir of Kagarko if the police can’t charge them to court within the lawfully permitted time frame. HURIWA said: “The petition outlines alarming allegation­s of intimidati­on, harassment and malicious instigatio­n of arrest against Muhammadu Sani Dalhatu, alias Abacha, a figure with a contentiou­s reputation within the community. According to the petition, Abacha allegedly threatened the father of the Aliyu brothers, prompting forceful and unexplaine­d detention by individual­s suspected to be from the Intelligen­ce Response Team ( IRT) of the Nigerian Police Force.”

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