A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Dr. Babajide Ajibade, has said the abuse of the fundamental human rights of Nigerians by security forces deployed to enforce the lockdown order is totally unacceptable.
Ajibade, in a statement, expressed sadness at the alleged killing of Joseph Pessu at Ugbwuwangwe area of Warri South local government noting that Delta state at the time of the incident had not recorded a single case of Coronavirus infection.
He said: “It is worthy of note that not a single person had tested positive in Delta State at the time of this incident. Thus, the cure would appear to have been more dangerous than the disease in this instance!
“There have been several other news and social media reports of security agents maltreating citizens and abusing their fundamental rights all in purported enforcement of government’s lockdown measures. This is all totally unacceptable.”
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The learned silk also called on the Nigerian Army and the Police to investigate the incident with the aim of bringing the perpetrators to book to serve as deterrent to others. He also called on the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to provide every necessary support to the family of the victim to ensure that justice is done.
Ajibade: “I call on the authorities in the Nigerian Army as well as the Police and other law enforcement agencies to investigate the Delta State incident and bring the perpetrator to book to serve as a deterrent to other security agents. There must be clear rules of engagement where the Army is deployed to engage with the civilian populace and the use of arms leading to loss of life must always be a last resort.
“I urge the Nigerian Bar Association to provide every necessary support to the family of the victim to ensure that this case is properly handled and that justice is done.
“Whilst I urge all persons to abide by the various lock down measures, which are ostensibly made for our benefit, we cannot tolerate law enforcement agents who employ unnecessarily extreme measures at any time, much less at this fragile time in our existence.”
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