The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Petitions, Jerry Alagbaso, on Wednesday came hard on security agencies in the country, accusing them of human rights violations during the COVID-19 lockdown.
According to him, the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army were among the top violators of human rights as contained in the documented report by the National Human Rights Commission.
He also said that the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corp were indicted for violating human rights while enforcing the pandemic rules and regulations.
The legislator spoke during an experience sharing session on the ‘Administrative injustice arising from COVID-19’, organized by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre with support from the European Union.
Alagbaso said the violations included arbitrary arrests and detention of citizens and even those who had cogent reasons to go about their official duties during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
Apart from harassment and illegal detention of journalists by security agencies, he said there were also several instances of illegal arrests and detention of ordinary citizens and others who were pushed by hunger in search of food and sources of income.
He said, “At the Committee on Human Rights Abuses, we have handled cases concerning administrative injustices. And at our investigative hearings, the Committee’s position as regards the violation of human rights is always made clear to the heads of the security agencies and we have always pointed out the dangers in the abuse of human rights. Another issue is that of extra-judicial killings.”
Alagbaso said the NHRC documented more than 11 extra-judicial killings between April and May 2020 committed by the security agents while enforcing the COVID-19 lockdown as well as other non-state actors.
In their report, the commission said that they caused seven of the deaths while the NSCDC, non-state actors and state task forces situated in Abia state for COVID-19 enforcement were responsible for others.
He said that the NHRC report showed that out of the 11 documented deaths, four were recorded in Abia state, Delta State (two), while Niger, Jigawa, Lagos, Anambra and Rivers states recorded one death each.
“The report also stated that during the COVID-19 lockdown, the police accounted for 29.6 per cent of the total violations, followed by individuals and non-state actors and gender-based violence which accounted for 18.3 per cent.
“The report pointed out that the various task forces on the enforcement of COVID-19 regulations across the country accounted for 10.5 per cent of the cases, while the Nigerian Army and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corp accounted for 7.7 per cent and 1.9 per cent respectively of the violation.
“The DSS also accounted for 1 per cent of the total cases of violations”, Alagbaso said.
