A coalition of Nigerian public interest organizations, under the
auspices of the Action Group on Free Civic Space, are calling on
Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, to set up Mobile Courts
immediately, in order to address violations of Imo State Executive
Order 001 on COVID-19 Lockdown and Curfew signed into law on April
17, 2020.
In a statement made available to Nairalaw (TNL), the
group further alleged extortion of money from the detainees by the
Police.
Lockdown directives issued by the federal and state governments
in Nigeria have resulted in spikes in human rights abuses,
including brutal killings of citizens, across the country. The
documentation of coronavirus-linked violations published on Closing
Spaces Database, a digital database that tracks incidents of
shrinking civic space in Nigeria and West Africa, reveals over 22
deaths caused by security operatives enforcing the lockdown in
Delta, Abia, Anambra, Kaduna, and Cross Rivers States.
The Action Group had on April 11, launched Legal Helplines
(08145000093 & 07039855775), and constituted a legal team
comprising lawyers in different parts of the country that provide
free legal services to persons whose rights are violated as a
result of the COVID-19 lockdown measures in Nigeria.
Since the Legal Helplines were launched, the majority of
complaints received have come from the South Eastern part of the
country, with Imo State having the largest share.
The Action Group’s independent investigations revealed that
scores of citizens are arrested on a daily basis by state security
agents in Imo State, especially the Nigeria Police. Arrested
persons often include those looking for food, or on the way to the
hospital and or looking for basic necessaries that humans depend on
for survival. Reports received further reveal that arrested persons
are usually detained beyond the constitutional limits of 48 hours
without any formal charge. Some of them told the Action Group that
state agents allegedly demanded N50,000 bribe before they can be
released.
In order to understand why detained persons are never charged in
accordance with the Imo State Executive Order 001 on COVID-19
Lockdown and Curfew, the Action Group discovered that Mobile Courts
were either not set up or that the Mobile Courts have never sat to
try curfew and lockdown violations, resulting in the police
exercising discretion in ways that hurt civil liberties and shrink
the civic space in Imo State.
The Action Group legal team therefore calls on Imo State
Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma and Imo State Attorney General, to
immediately begin the process of using mobile courts to address
violations of COVID19 lockdown and curfew violations. A community
service of 7 days (Clause 5) is the punishment imposed for these
violations. Without setting up or operationalizing the Mobile
Courts, state security agents and other unlawful persons may
continue to exploit the opportunity to make money out of innocent
citizens.
A coalition of Nigerian public interest organizations, under the
auspices of the Action Group on Free Civic Space, are calling on
Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, to set up Mobile Courts
immediately, in order to address violations of Imo State Executive
Order 001 on COVID-19 Lockdown and Curfew signed into law on April
17, 2020.
In a statement made available to Nairalaw (TNL), the
group further alleged extortion of money from the detainees by the
Police.
Lockdown directives issued by the federal and state governments
in Nigeria have resulted in spikes in human rights abuses,
including brutal killings of citizens, across the country. The
documentation of coronavirus-linked violations published on Closing
Spaces Database, a digital database that tracks incidents of
shrinking civic space in Nigeria and West Africa, reveals over 22
deaths caused by security operatives enforcing the lockdown in
Delta, Abia, Anambra, Kaduna, and Cross Rivers States.
The Action Group had on April 11, launched Legal Helplines
(08145000093 & 07039855775), and constituted a legal team
comprising lawyers in different parts of the country that provide
free legal services to persons whose rights are violated as a
result of the COVID-19 lockdown measures in Nigeria.
Since the Legal Helplines were launched, the majority of
complaints received have come from the South Eastern part of the
country, with Imo State having the largest share.
The Action Group’s independent investigations revealed that
scores of citizens are arrested on a daily basis by state security
agents in Imo State, especially the Nigeria Police. Arrested
persons often include those looking for food, or on the way to the
hospital and or looking for basic necessaries that humans depend on
for survival. Reports received further reveal that arrested persons
are usually detained beyond the constitutional limits of 48 hours
without any formal charge. Some of them told the Action Group that
state agents allegedly demanded N50,000 bribe before they can be
released.
In order to understand why detained persons are never charged in
accordance with the Imo State Executive Order 001 on COVID-19
Lockdown and Curfew, the Action Group discovered that Mobile Courts
were either not set up or that the Mobile Courts have never sat to
try curfew and lockdown violations, resulting in the police
exercising discretion in ways that hurt civil liberties and shrink
the civic space in Imo State.
The Action Group legal team therefore calls on Imo State
Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma and Imo State Attorney General, to
immediately begin the process of using mobile courts to address
violations of COVID19 lockdown and curfew violations. A community
service of 7 days (Clause 5) is the punishment imposed for these
violations. Without setting up or operationalizing the Mobile
Courts, state security agents and other unlawful persons may
continue to exploit the opportunity to make money out of innocent
citizens.