Human Rights Writers Association
of Nigeria, HURIWA, on Thursday cautioned President Muhammadu Buhari against
allowing former National Security Adviser, NSA, Sambo Dasuki and the leader of
the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky to die in detention.
This was as HURIWA pleaded with
world leaders to prevail on Buhari to respect the courts by releasing Dasuki
and El-Zakzaky who have “languished in underground jails for over three years
extralegally.”
HURIWA stated that the,
“continuous detention and duplication of charges against the duo by President
Muhammadu Buhari is an act of treason against the constitution,” adding that
“it is necessary that they are not allowed to die in detention following
reports of their deteriorating health conditions.”
In a statement by its National
Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko entitled “El-Zakzaky, Dasuki must not die in
detention,” the Rights group also condemned the order by the Inspector General
of Police, IGP, Mohammed Adamu for restricting members of IMN to the Unity
Foundation in Abuja.
HURIWA wondered how Adamu whose
office was a creation of the constitution has assumed the “ultra vires power of
overruling the constitution and the Courts of competent jurisdiction.”
The statement reads: “HURIWA
condemned the illegal order issued by Mr. Adamu Mohammed the inspector general
of police restricting public protests to only within the confines of unity
fountain in Abuja as against the clear provisions of the constitution in
chapter four and provisions of the constitution guaranteeing the fundamental
freedoms of movement and peaceful assembly, including the binding Appellate`
court’s verdict clearly stating that police don’t have any legal right to stop
protests and against the most cherished values of constitutional democracy
built around the tripod of freedom of speech, freedom of association and
freedom of movement which are even guaranteed by a plethora of global human
rights laws.
“Specifically, we express
disbelief that the rest of the developed world had looked on as president
Buhari has unleashed venoms and vicious attacks against protesters and has
adopted extra-legal measures to detain citizens against binding decisions of
the courts of competent jurisdiction as empowered by section 36(5) and section
(6) which states: “Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be
presumed to be
“Innocent until he is proved
guilty;
“Provided that nothing in this
section shall invalidate any law by reason only that the law imposes upon any
such person the burden of proving particular facts.”
HURIWA stated that the President
can’t overrule the constitutionally guaranteed judicial powers of the
federation conferred on the courts in accordance with section six as follows:
“The judicial powers of the federation is vested in the courts of competent
jurisdictions and section 36(6) that “Every person who is charged with a
criminal offence shall be entitled to
“(a) be informed promptly in the
language that he understands and in detail of the nature of the offence;
“(b) be given adequate time and
facilities for the preparation of his defence;
“(c) defend himself in person or
by legal practitioners of his own choice;
“(d) examine, in person or by his
legal practitioners, the witnesses called by the prosecution before any court
or tribunal and obtain the attendance and carry out the examination of
witnesses to testify on his behalf before the court or tribunal on the same
conditions as those applying to the witnesses called by the prosecution; and
“(e) have, without payment, the
assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand the language used at the
trial of the offence.
“We are shocked that whilst
constitutional democracy gradually dies away in Nigeria due to deliberate
whittling down of respect for human rights by the current administration, world
leaders in U.S.A. and U.K. simply don’t care but pretend to be unaware of the
global consequences of a deluge of refugees from Nigeria should democracy
collapsed under the heavyweight of tyranny and totalitarianism of the current
administration”.
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