Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana,
has condemned the recent arrest and parading of Mr Dickson Akor, the National
Commandant, Peace Corps of Nigeria, by the Nigerian Police. Falana spoke with
newsmen on Saturday in Abuja after securing the release of Akor from police
custody.
The police in a combined
operation with the Depart of State Services and the Nigerian Army on Feb. 28,
raided the headquarters of the Peace Corps of Nigeria in Abuja.
During the operation, they
arrested Akor and 48 other members of the corps. A statement issued by the
Police Spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, said intelligence reports showed that the
Peace Corps and other similar groups were acquiring weapons and conducting
covert trainings in different locations across the country.
In the statement, Moshood
said such action violated a 2013 gazette of the Federal Government that banned
such groups. Falana, who described police invasion of the headquarters of the
Peace Corps of Nigeria as illegal and unconstitutional, said that the
organisation was not operating illegally.
He said, “generally, the parade of criminal suspects in the
country by the Police is illegal. “In this case, apart from the registration of
its trustees under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, there are two
judgments of the Federal High Court restraining the police from harassing and
intimidating members of the organization.’’
The human rights lawyer said that he was also negotiating for the
re-opening of the office of the Peace Corps of Nigeria. “They must be allowed
to operate under the law and we will get to that state where the police will
appreciate that Nigeria is under-policed.
“We need volunteers, young men and women who should be organised
by the state to handle those duties that will not require the intervention of
the Police,’’ he said.
The human rights lawyer emphasised that crime like terrorism,
herdsmen attack, armed robbery and kidnapping thrive in the country because the
country is under-policed.
“As at 2011, the Federal Government of Nigeria decided to engage
the services of 380,000 police personnel, between then and now, only 10, 000
are being employed.
“There is no way you can police about 180 million people with
barely 380, 000 police personnel out of which about 120, 000 are guiding the
elite and corporate bodies in the country.
“I thought the police should have embraced a body like the Peace
Corps of Nigeria to make their job easier because the Nigerian Police operates
under very difficult situations.
“Most communities are not policed, so herdsmen move into farms and
kill people. “Nigerians have not developed a litigation culture of challenging
the killing of every citizen either directly or indirectly for which the
government can be blamed,’’ Falana said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the National Assembly
on Nov. 24, 2016 passed a bill, which gives approval for the establishment of
the Nigerian Peace Corps as an agency under the Ministry of Interior. The
Nigerian Peace Corps Bill seeks to empower, develop and provide gainful
employment for the youths.
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