Members of the International Federation of Human Rights (IFHR) in collaboration with Freelance Journalist Federation (FIJ) and Save Nigeria Movement (SNM) have called on the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to release two incarcerated brothers – Mustapha Buhari Aliyu and Aliyu Buhari Aliyu.
The duo, who the coalition asserted are well known for their cattle rearing business, were allegedly “abducted” from their home in Kagarko, Kaduna State over allegations of involvement in kidnapping and ransom-taking on March 21, 2023 by IRT operatives.
But the group claimed that the police were conniving with the detainees’ arch-enemy, who is alleged to be a bandit, who has carried through with his threat to the father of the embattled brothers following a feud.
In a press release signed by the trio of Comrade Joshua Attah, Rev. Oduma Abel and Rev. Solomon Semaka, national coordinator and conveners of IHRF, FJF and SNM respectively, and made available to journalists in Abuja after a press conference at Utako, Abuja yesterday, the coalition accused the NPF of disregarding the rule of law and violating the rights of the detainees through “illegal abduction and detention.”
The trio said, “As civil society organisations (CSOs), we are concerned with the utter disregard for the rule of law by the Nigeria Police Force and the gross violation of the human rights of two innocent Nigerians despite concerted interventions and appeals. Ours is, therefore, a clarion call on the NPF to respect the human rights of civilians and immediately release the duo of Mustapha Buhari Aliyu and Aliyu Buhari Aliyu who are currently being unjustly incarcerated by officers and men of Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
“The IRT has been variously engrossed in gross violations of human rights with persistent and unabating complaints from a cross section of Nigerians. The Kagarko incident is most disturbing because it seemed to have been a vendetta orchestrated by a well-known bandit in the area who actually accompanied IRT operatives on the mission. This illegality and rascality have generated global attention and if left unaddressed might lead to a breakdown of law and order.”
The coalition questioned the motive of the NPF in the case and wondered why despite repeated complaints and interventions from different quarters including lawyers to the accused brothers, Y.C Maikyau & Co, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Kagarko Emirate Council as well as Human Rights Writers Association (HURIWA), exonerating the brothers of any wrongdoing, the NPF has refused to release them in line with standard procedures and conventions on human rights.
“As pro-democracy CSOs dedicated to minimising incidents of human rights abuse of civilians by security agents, the high-handedness of the NPF pushed us to undertake a fact finding mission to ascertain the motive behind the unprofessional conduct and gang up against the victims by IRT. We found through the irrefutable accounts of eye witnesses that the gestapo styled abductions were simply a glaring conspiracy by the purported bandit and the IRT operatives who acted without an arrest warrant and had no regard for the rule of law.
“Also, by all global standards, no individual shall be arrested without a warrant and detained beyond 24 hours without being charged without a valid court order. The NPF in gross violations of both local and international laws have chosen to conspire with a known bandit just to teach the innocent victims and their father a lesson. Keeping the accused for close to two weeks without officially charging then is unacceptable in our current democratic culture.
“It is even more worrisome as reports have emerged that the said ‘Alias Abacha’ who is behind the continued incarceration of two innocent citizens and a known criminal has been recruited into the NPF as per HURIWA in a release on March 30, 2024. This development casts a very long shadow of doubt on the ability of the NPF to fight crime and uphold human rights if its frolicking with criminals,” the CSOs said.
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