PETITION BY COALITION OF CIVIL SOCIETY ORGANIZATIONS*
Section
33 sub section 1 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of
Nigeria states that “Every person has a right to life, and no one shall
be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence
of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found
guilty in Nigeria”.
Also,
Section 36 subsection 5 of the constitution states clearly that “Every
person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be
innocent until he is proved guilty” Furthermore, ARTICLE 58 of the UN
charter stipulates right to freedom from coercion, duress, threat,
torture, or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. And ARTICLE 56 of
this charter states that an individual is presumed innocent until he is
proved guilty by the court. This implies that a criminal suspect must
not be tortured or killed while in custody, rather he must go through
the established judicial process of the state.
It
is based on this universally accepted principle that we – a coalition
of civil societyorganisations in Nigeria – make the following case.
*BACKGROUND*
On
May 22, 2018, the police announced the arrest of Michael Adikwu, a
dismissed police corporal, who killed allegedly 22 people in the Offa
bank robbery of April 5, 2018, and oneKunle Ogunleye, another suspect in
the crime. 33 people were reported killed in the dastardly attack.
On
May 22, Jimoh Moshood, spokesman of the Nigeria Police, said in a
statement sent to journalists, that the suspects had already confessed
to be the gang leaders of the criminal group, and that they would be
charged to court at the completion of investigation.
“The
two suspects have confessed to the crime and admitted to the various
criminal roles they played in the robbery. They will be charged to court
on completion of investigation.” he said at the time.
However,
on June 3, the police paraded five of the gang leaders and some
principal suspects, without Adikwu. AyoadeAkinnibosun, aka AY, suspected
mastermind of the robbery, confessed before cameras that Adikwu was the
gang’s armourer, and that he supplied them the arms they used for the
operation. Note: Adikwu is a former police officer.
*FACTS OF THE CASE*
Hinging
on the need to serve justice to those killed in the attack and to bring
this sad episode in our history to a conclusive end, it is imperative
that the police produce Adikwuto state publicly his sponsors just like
his gang mates did. We believe he was not working alone, and that he has
some powerful links in the police – where he served before.
We
feel that this prime suspect, who allegedly killed 22 people, may have
been extra-judicially killed. It is important that he isprovided for
this will solve the mystery of where the gang got the arms they used for
the operation.
We have
information that Adikwu was summarily executed during interrogation by
the police to cover up the truth of what transpires
And
we are aware that a suspect was severely tortured and his arms broken
by the police, but he was released after it became clear he had no hand
in the crime.
*OUR DEMANDS*
We
demand that the police immediately produce Adikwu. If he has been
killed, the police should come clean and name his executors, this is in
keeping with the Freedom of Information Act (FOI).
We
demand an immediate investigation into the disappearance of this
suspect, and we ask respected international human rightsorganisations to
call on the Nigerian government and the police to produce him.
And
lastly, we demand an independent probe of the Offa robbery because the
police appear compromised. Failure to produce him, we will petition the
International Criminal Court and also petition all embassies with
evidence so as to revoke visas of the IGP and other human rights
violators.
Collins Abu
No 92, Awolowo way,Ikeja Lagos
For Coalition of Civil SocietyOrganisations