Some civil society organisations in
Bayelsa State have raised the alarm over the increasing cases of
brutality and extortion of residents by security operatives in the
state.
The CSOs comprising the Civil Liberties
Organisation, Bayelsa Non-Governmental Organisations
Forum and the
International Federation of Women Lawyers expressed their concerns at a
news conference in Yenagoa on Saturday.
The Chairman, BANGOF, Robinson
Kuroghobogha, who read the statement of the groups, said that human
rights violation in Bayelsa was on “a geometric increase”.
Robinson claimed that men of the armed
forces and other security agencies, particularly the police force, only
have the mandate to provide security for citizens and not to harass and
intimidate them.
He cited the recent brutal assaults on
Tonye Yemoleigha, a reporter with Radio Bayelsa, by an Air Force
operative and Philomena Briggs, a student, by five policemen as some
examples of police brutality in the state.
He said, “It has come to the notice of
the civil society that the rate of assault, harassment, intimidation and
unlawful extortion of law-abiding citizens in Yenagoa by armed security
personnel has been on the rise.
“Several cases of brutality by armed
(security) personnel have been reported to various institutions with no
tangible response from them.
“The case of Mr. Tonye Yemoleigha, a
journalist with the Bayelsa State Broadcasting Corporation who was
brutally assaulted by an Air Force personnel on the May 18 and that of
Mrs. Philomena Briggs, a student, reportedly assaulted by five armed
policemen are recent examples of the level of impunity of armed
personnel in the state.”
He said that acts of brutality on
residents by the security operatives were a violation of their
fundamental human rights guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution (as
amended), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the African
Charter on Human and People’s Rights.
“The human rights community and indeed
all law-abiding citizens of Bayelsa are seriously concerned with the
excessive conduct of armed security personnel.
“The protection of lives and property
and ensuring the rights of law-abiding citizens are not violated are the
primary functions of the police.
“Therefore, policemen acting with
impunity and violating the fundamental rights of law-abiding citizens is
a deliberate call to chaos and anarchy and no sane society will approve
of that.”
He urged heads of security agencies to
take appropriate steps to reduce to the barest minimum cases of
officers’ misconduct and brutal assault on innocent citizen.
Robinson demanded compensation from the security agencies to all victims of recent brutality that had been reported to them.
Present at the news conference were
Chairman, CLO, Bayelsa State, Chief Nengi James, FIDA Chairman, Dise
Ogbise-Erhisere, former Secretary, CLO and Coordinator, Environmental
Right Action, Mr. Alagoa Morris, among others.
No comments: