A member of the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on
Restitution for Victims of SARS Related Abuses and other matters, Ebun-Olu
Adegboruwa (SAN), has said unarmed inmates fleeing after an invasion of a
correctional centre should not be killed.
He said this in a statement on Monday, titled, ‘The Jail
Break And Killings In Jos,’ in reaction to the invasion of the Jos Correctional
Centre by criminal elements.
The attack led to the death of an officer of the Nigerian
Correctional Service and nine inmates.
Reacting, Adegboruwa lamented that eight of the inmates who
died during the attack were gunned down, saying taking advantage of the
invasion to escape shouldn’t warrant their death.
He said, “Yesterday, we were all alarmed watching the
invasion of the Jos Correctional Centre by criminal elements masquerading as
unknown gunmen. They bombarded the facility, apparently with the sole aim of
freeing some of the inmates.
“In the course of the mindless attack, some brave security
men were injured and killed. There are enough provisions in our laws for anyone
dissatisfied with any process to ventilate their grievances without resorting
to violence. I sympathise with the families of those who lost their lives in
defending our nation and condemn the unwarranted attack on the correctional
centre.
“It, however, came to light that at least eight of the
inmates were killed while trying to escape. The Commandant said in an interview
that “they were gunned down while fleeing.” The inmates were not the ones that
attacked the facility but were most probably trying to take undue advantage of
the opportunity of the attack to escape. That should not warrant their death.”
He said the right to life is sacrosanct, both on the part of
the warders and also the inmates, adding that no one should be killed extra
judicially except and in accordance with a process sanctioned by law.
“So if some unarmed inmates are feeling to escape, the
appropriate thing would be to stop their advancement through the use of minimal
force but certainly not to kill them for attempting to escape.
“I, therefore, urge the President and Commander in Chief to
get all security agencies to respect the rights of citizens and to embrace
appropriate rules of engagement in dealing with crisis situations.
“We have too many cases of extrajudicial killings in our
land presently, especially in places like the South East where people are
reported to be missing almost or on a daily basis,” he said.
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