Law centre protests against police torture

The Sterling Centre for Law and Development has staged a street walk in Abuja to protest against the torture of suspects and detainees by the police.

The participants, who carried a huge banner with the inscription, ‘Stop torture,’ wore black shirts to express their indignation against the use of torture to extract confessional statements by the police.

Led by the Director of the centre, Deji Ajare, the participants walked to the Force headquarters where they presented a letter to the police after which they also delivered letters to the Ministry of Justice and the National Human Rights Commission in Maitama.

Ajare, in the letter presented to the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, during the protest on Tuesday, explained that the day was set aside by the United Nations in support of the victims of torture and to call attention to the need for a zero tolerance to torture in Nigeria.

Although the government had taken steps to address the prevalence of torture with the passage of the Anti-Torture Act in 2017, the lawyer stated that widespread implementation of the act will reduce drastically the use of torture in the country.

He said, “We would like to suggest that the Nigeria Police Force steps up its internal monitoring activities to drastically reduce and eventually eliminate cases of torture of suspects for confessions or as a part of punishment for erring detainees.

“The police should also be more open to external monitoring by opening up its facilities to local and international groups who should be given access to interact with detainees to ascertain if they are being subjected to torture. We are pleased with recent reports that the National Human Rights Commission will soon begin inspecting detention facilities across the country.”

The activist asked the police to employ technology to stem the tide of torture in stations  by installing cameras in interrogation rooms and cells as well as recording of suspects’ and witness statements in line with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.

Ajare demanded improved mechanisms for reporting incidents of torture to enable victims of torture to make complaints to the appropriate authorities which can take action.

“Special attention must also be paid to the activities of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad who have been widely criticized by the public recently due to the activities of some of their operatives. We are aware of current efforts to reform the unit and hope that the police will be willing to partner with civil society and the public to make these reforms effective,” he stated.