The Guardian (Nigeria)

Group threatens to sue IGP, others over failure to arraign suspects

- By Ameh Ochojila, Abuja

ACIVIL Society Organisati­on, Sterling Law Centre has threatened to sue the Inspector General Police ( IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, and other agencies for failure to arraign suspects over human rights violations of a Nigerian, Patrick Okachi.

The group, in a statement, called on the Commission­er of Police, Federal Capital Territory ( FCT), to direct immediate prosecutio­n of the suspects in the appropriat­e court.

Executive Director of the group, Adaobi Iyiegbu, said

they are worried over the delay of the FCT Police to prosecute perpetrato­rs for torture, assault and acts of violence against Okachi.

The group said that the police, daily, arrest and charge others to court for those types of crimes, but

failed to respond to a criminal one under the provisions of the Penal Code, Administra­tion of Criminal Justice Act, the Anti- Torture Act 2017 and the Violence Against Persons ( Prohibitio­n) Act 2015.

They also called on the

Director- General of the Director State Security ( DSS) to offer all necessary cooperatio­n to the Police to fish out the rogue officers who carried out the dastardly act.

Iyiegbu said: “Appeals to the Police authoritie­s to ensure that any and all attempts at influencin­g the investigat­ion and prosecutio­n of the suspects are rejected.

“We call on all relevant agencies such as the Attorney- General and Minister of Justice, National Human Rights Commission, the National Committee Against Torture, civil society organisati­on, media amongst others to lend their voices and support in their different capacities to ensure that Patrick Okachi gets justice.

“We notify the general public that a suit will be filed against all concerned parties to ensure the enforcemen­t of Okachi’s fundamenta­l human rights.”

Recall on November 3, 2022, Okachi, a cleaner in a hotel in Abuja, was accused of stealing an undisclose­d amount of money from the office of the Chairman, the previous day, and claimed that he was caught on CCTV camera.

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Alkali Baba
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Malami

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