The group has therefore
asked the new police chief to investigate the media report that a serving
senator representing Orlu Zone of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, was allegedly
caught by a team of senior police and electoral officials during the rerun
election in Imo State while engaging in the criminal act of thumb printing
ballot papers with the criminal intent to influence the poll in favour of his
political party, the Peoples Democratic party
A pro-Democracy Non Governmental group, the Human
Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, has tasked the newly-appointed Inspector
General of Police, Solomon Arase, to ensure that the enforcement of the
Nigerian law is not discriminatory since the law is no respecter of person,
status or affiliation.
The
group has therefore asked the new police chief to investigate the media report
that a serving senator representing Orlu Zone of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, was
allegedly caught by a team of senior police and electoral officials during the
rerun election in Imo State while engaging in the criminal act of thumb printing
ballot papers with the criminal intent to influence the poll in favour of his
political party, the Peoples Democratic party.
The
Rights group said it amounted to treating certain persons allegedly in conflict
with the law as sacred cows even as the same Nigerian Police Force is notorious
for supervising the illegal and unconstitutional acts of extra judicial
execution of petty criminals detained in the various police cells.
HURIWA
therefore has asked the Police Chief to deal decisively with his officials who
allegedly did underhand deals to grant a bogus bail to Uzodinma on the dubious
claim of self recognition.
HURIWA
said: “We ask: ‘self recognition’ as what?
“We
consider it a scandal of unimaginable dimension that the police will pick and
choose which allegedly accused persons are to be detained and which caliber of
alleged criminals are to be allowed to roam the street and possibly the
corridor of political power with the overarching intent of frustrating the
enforcement of the rule of law. If the media story is anything to write home
about then the said indicted senator must be arrested just like others who were
driven to the police criminal departments in Owerri or Abuja. We don’t
subscribe to public parade of suspects but we urge the police authority to
enforce the Nigerian Law without fear or favour.”
In a
statement by the National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, and the
National Media Affairs Director, Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA cautioned Arase not to
condone any lawless act of his officers if he must achieve any meaningful
reforms of the decadent Nigeria Police Force.
It
said: “The morning shows exactly how the rest of the day will be but the
nation’s new police chief must make hay whilst the sun still shines.”
26/4/2015
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