DIG deplores torture, parade of suspects before media

Sani Mohammed, Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Training and Development, Force Headquarters, has decried the use of torture to extract information from suspects by some police personnel.
Mohammed, who made the assertion at a workshop on Human Rights organized for police officers in Port Harcourt on Monday, cautioned against the use of such tactics on suspects.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the workshop was organized by Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action, a Non-Governmental Organisation.
Represented by Peter Ogunyanwo, Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Training and Development Department, Mohammed said that parade of suspects before the media was illegal.
He said: “Any trouble that may emanate from it would be shouldered by the police officer that was behind the torture and parading of a suspect.
“Police officers are warned against trampling on people’s rights in the course of their duty.
“Police have code of conduct and United Nations is very serious about human rights. Also, NGOs are watching and recording.”
Mohammed reminded the participants that Charles Taylor, former Liberian President was currently serving 50 years sentence due to crimes committed while in office.
He said that the Nigerian Police Force with its “little over 300, 000 personnel” on active duty, was not enough to protect no fewer than 200 million Nigerians.
Dr Uju Agomoh, Executive Director, PRAWA, said that the NGO had trained police personnel on human rights abuses.
She said that it was not training, but that it required change of attitude by police personnel in Nigerians.
She said: “Nigerians should be able to feel the change of attitude by the police.
“Today, we are celebrating, but people said it (Human Rights) was not worth celebrating.”
The director said that the situation of respect for human rights today was not to be compared with during the World War one and two.
On his part, a Port Harcourt-based lawyer, Higher Kings, said that human rights observance had improved in the country.
He condemned the use of torture by the police on suspects in an attempt to extract information, adding that there were different names for different torture pattern in police environment.
According to him, such conduct by police has created escape routes for suspects in court, and some Nigerians are ignorant of their rights.