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#EndSARS: PSC, Judiciary, AGF, CBN, Contribute To Inability To Curtail The Excesses Of Police Force — Access To Justice

Access to Justice has stated that there is a need to make Police more accountable beyond the promises being made all around by the Federal Government on the reform of the Police.

It further stated that several institutions have contributed to the present challenges foisted on the citizens by the Nigeria Police Force, because of their inability to do what ought to have done.

This is contained in a statement titled “No Space Was Left To Hold Police Accountable: Reforms To Policing Require Far Deeper Changes Across Multiple Platforms, Not “Candy” Promises”, issued by the Convener, Joseph Otteh and Project Director, Deji Ajare which was made available to TheNigeriaLawyer(TNL).

“Until the #EndSARS Campaign began an unprecedented, citizen involved political action, no space was left for Nigerian people to hold the police accountable for its acts of brutality and culture of impunity. Internal processes of police accountability were mostly shambolic, pretending to be there, but giving abusers in their system basically a free pass. Every now and then, the police would pass off the impression that they were intolerant of abuses, but that was mostly a whitewash of reality.

“External processes of accountability were also lacking. The Police Service Commission, which has constitutional responsibility for the discipline of members of the police force long abandoned that mandate, which perhaps was its most important – and chose instead softer pastures to cultivate – recruitment, promotions, election-monitoring, and postings of senior police personnel. Why these matters were prioritized over disciplinary oversight of the police is a great cause for concern and makes a case for the overhaul of the Commission.

“Although the Commission’s inertness and ineffectiveness are not captured by the headlights of the current campaign, the Police Service Commission is just as complicit in the brutality and impunity of the police force as the perpetrators themselves. Without an engaged, primed and dependable Police Service Commission on the frontline of the fight, impunity will continue to flourish within the police whether it be among its regular officers or within its specialized units and whether it be SARS or SWAT!!!

The group also pointed out that the judiciary and the Central Bank of Nigeria are as guilty as the other bodies and have failed to hold police accountable.

“The Judiciary’s power to make the police accountable has also been largely stifled. Judgments against police lawlessness and abuse are met by the charge that those judgments are unenforceable given that the Attorney General of the Federation has not consented to their enforcement. The Federal Attorney General, who ought to defend the rights of the Nigerian people and the rule of law, persistently declines to give consent to enforce judgments against the Police Force.

“Even the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) plays a major part too. It defends abusive institutions by litigating against judgment creditors when they seek access to banking accounts of those institutions, alongside looking the other way when banks collude with the Police to disguise their accounts and make it inaccessible to judgment creditors.

“In sum, until now, no one has been able to call the police force to account and curtail the excesses (and brigandage) of many members of the force. There has been, as it were, a huge multilateral, multi-sectoral “gang-up” by several actors to shield the police from justice and accountability, to deny the rights of victims of police abuse and injustice and to foster the culture of impunity as it steadily grew within the police force.

“Now, the Buhari government has a far greater scope of work to do in unhinging all the points of this interlocking chain of support for and complicity in police abuses. The government must offer a robust, deep, and credible plan for police reform, including strengthening the independence of the police force, well beyond the diplomacy of a few morsels of bread and sweeteners it is putting on the table,” the statement read.

Netflix’s “The Social Dilemma” is not tailored for Africa’s internet reality

For a documentary proposing big-picture diagnoses of social media’s effect on the world, The Social Dilemma barely takes the 1.2 billion people in Africa into consideration.

The 93-minute Netflix Original documentary dramatizes the backend of social media platforms as a dystopian neuroscience lab. 

Among other things, it shows how digital juices are used to incite user engagement to auction advertisement space in real-time. We learn that when it comes to fighting temptation, not all digital safe locks are created equal (hello, Piggyvest!).

The film hammers Facebook for driving the deterioration of confidence in democracy around the world. But YouTube, Twitter, Google and Snapchat are not spared.

With the self-evolving algorithms they intentionally design for profit, these companies have transformed disinformation into an existential threat to modern civilization. 

social_media_techcabal
Social media platforms are under fire for stoking divisions around the world, including in Africa.

Radical change is urgently needed to stem the toxic tide, the film – which features several American technology experts and former senior staff at these companies – argues.

Two wrongs, two rights

Firstly, the core diagnosis is correct. Social media platforms can and have been channels for momentous diabolic acts that question the platforms’ supposed positive value. 

Ethnic genocide in Myanmar and unresolved consequences of the Arab Spring in North Africa are two instances, among many.

The Social Dilemma suggests four solutions: an organisation to define truth on the internet; discourage big data collection with heavy taxes; campaign against algorithms that monitor and harvest big data at the individual level; abolish the platforms altogether.  

Clearly, two and three are desirable and applicable in every country where these platforms operate. But recommending the arbitration of truth by some regulator, or blanket social media abolition unwittingly plays into the hands of totalitarians and pseudo-democracies already doing these things. 

Somewhere in an African state house – I suspect Entebbe – a government adviser watched The Social Dilemma and leaped for joy.

Uganda’s Chinese internet  

In March 2018, President Yoweri Museveni wrote a letter to his finance minister complaining that social media amplified “olugambo” in his beloved Uganda. The term loosely translates to gossip, a normal activity in every society. 

But Museveni’s loyalists took the hint and broadened the definition. By July of that year, a law taxing over-the-top services went into effect. 

The pretext? To control disinformation and prevent possible violence from WhatsApp, Facebook, Twitter and 57 other platforms. A $27 annual license fee for anyone broadcasting content online to the public – blogs, podcasts, video – is set to kick in soon.

Museveni turns 76 this week and was once heralded for his freedom-fighting against the authoritarian Idi Amin in the 1980s. Now in his 34th year as president, he jails anti-government voices. 

Once the guerilla Marxist who believed in democratizing opportunity, he now shuts down the internet during elections to boost his chances every election cycle. 

He often refers to China as Africa’s “genuine friends” in terms of the Asian giant’s contribution to infrastructure projects.

But this friendship may not be in favour of Africans when it comes to digital rights and privacy. According to an investigation in 2019, it appears Huawei employees helped the governments of Uganda and Zambia spy on citizens.

In that sense, the president’s clamp down on the internet resembles a push for a Ugandan version of the Chinese Great Firewall – a combination of political and tech policies to keep anti-government voices in check. 

Africa needs Social Media, for now

The reality in Africa is that most countries do not yet have strong citizen-led structures for transparency and accountability. 

Where possible, pressure groups practically depend on social media to side-step traditional media gatekeepers who often appear sympathetic to or allied with the government of the day. 

In Nigeria, BudgIT emerged from a tech hackathon in 2011 to become the leading institution enlightening citizens on public finance. Twitter is their chief distribution and engagement platform. 

Many forums with similar missions – #EndPoliceBrutality, #StandtoEndRape – also depend on the openness of social media to reach wide audiences quickly. 

Twelve years ago, a brutal government crackdown in Cameroon was underreported and understated. But social media has heightened scrutiny on Paul Biya, the octogenarian now in his 38th year as president. No wonder he called it “a new form of terrorism” in 2016.

Prioritize intelligent, transparent redesign

Again, the virality features of social media have caused some harm on the continent. 

It was apparent during the Ebola crisis when fake miracle cures were promoted, causing the deaths of otherwise healthy individuals. There were fears of an epidemic of disinformation when COVID-19 hit Africa in the first quarter of the year.

In this regard, Africa should be championing the two good solutions from The Social Dilemma. Governments and citizens should be at the fore of pushing for redesigning algorithms to put some value-neutral constraints on virality. 

If online disinformation is the new obesity, then tech product designers and their marketers should be persuaded to provide clear labelling of their products. Obviously some secrets can be withheld to foster competition, but customers should clearly see the difference between water and blood.

Network platforms that rely on user-generated content and have potential to create virality should indeed be taxed per unit data they collect from individuals. It’s the equivalent of taxing factories that release potentially toxic waste into the environment.

But all of this has to be judged on specific definitions of the social media problem set. If The Social Dilemma encourages Museveni to justify a Facebook shut down because he dislikes gossip, how do you stop a president who hates being the butt of comedians’ jokes?

Techcabal

A Nigerian internet or social media shutdown? What to know and do

Two fears arise every time citizens of an African country take to the streets en masse to criticize some aspect of their government’s performance: that the government will shut down the internet, or that access to social media sites will be restricted.

The recent history of citizen demonstrations from the Arab Spring in 2011 to events in Ethiopia, Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Zimbabwe validate these fears. 

When governments order shutdowns, there’s little wiggle room for dissent even for the most progressive or good-intentioned telecommunications operator.

For example, when Zimbabwe ordered a shutdown in January 2019, Strive Masiyiwa couldn’t tap into his global fame and liberal democratic appeal to resist. His Econet, the country’s largest telecoms company, had to block access to internet services, else management would face three years imprisonment.

Life in a country without the internet feels like being cut off from the world. In 2020, being without the internet is equivalent to living under a rock.

Without a workaround, the only way to access your email could be to phone a friend abroad and give them your login details. The rapid exchange of information through WhatsApp and Twitter that now seem normal suddenly become novel things to long for. 

If you’re in Lagos Nigeria, no Uber or Bolt means those infamous yellow taxi cabs are all you’ve got for private trips. Costs of work-from-home company calls will rise dramatically to the point of prohibition.

It’s a grim reality. Here’s how it would play out and what to anticipate.

‘NCC says pull the plug’

A request from the Office of the National Security Adviser raising national security concerns is sufficient for an internet shutdown order to become reality in Nigeria.

The NSA, at this time Babagana Monguno – a retired major general, would send a directive to the Executive Vice Chairman of the Nigeria Communications Commission. The request will be for the NCC to direct its licensees to pull the plug.

“That’s the most likely route,” says Adeboye Adegoke, programme manager at Paradigm Initiative, a digital rights advocacy group.

“It is not impossible but we hope it doesn’t get to this. The government’s response to the [#EndSARS] protest has been double faced.”

An internet shutdown in Nigeria would require tier 1 internet service providers (MTN, Glo, Airtel, MainOne) to shut down their connections by disconnecting their servers from authorised data exchange points within the country. The Nigerian internet as we know it is an interconnection between these ISPs.

The alternative to a shutdown – blocking access to social media sites – would mean these ISPs will be mandated to not forward traffic from websites like Twitter and Facebook. The ISPs will block each of these site’s IP addresses from all its users, or delete the sites from their DNS servers; you’ll be told the site doesn’t exist when you try to connect. 

Paradigm Initiative published a guide for Malawians ahead of their May 2019 elections about staying online in the event of government-sanctioned internet shutdowns. Adegoke says they are working on specific steps for Nigerians. 

The guide focuses on what to expect when specific websites are blocked, and in times of total shutdowns.

To access blocked sites, two options are available: installing the TOR browser or using a trusted Virtual Private Network (VPN).

Put simply, a VPN helps a user create a private network from a public connection. Your IP address will be anonymous (a VPN creates one that shields yours) and your online activity is virtually untraceable. Essentially, it’s a tunnel for your phone or PC to stay in touch when highways are under patrol.  

Paradigm Initiative’s guide lists Psiphon, Lantern and Tunnelbear as free VPNs that can be trusted to work on Windows, Android and Mac/iOS devices. I’ll include Proton because it has been recommended to me by a cybersecurity professional in a bank, but it’s free version doesn’t grant access to blocked content.

These can preserve your connection to social media sites when they are blocked.

When the internet is completely shut down, there’s really no way to dwell on a website on the internet.

Twitter used to have a feature for tweeting by SMS – this was how the service was originally designed. But it was disabled in September 2019 due to security issues after CEO Jack Dorsey got hacked. They confirmed in April this year that Twitter via SMS has been turned off in all but a few countries; Nigeria isn’t included.

But people can connect to each other by using some offline messaging apps. For now, Bridgefy is the most notable. It requires a Bluetooth connection to broadcast messages to people around you, and as such must be used cautiously.https://platform.twitter.com/embed/index.html?creatorScreenName=nochieonukwue&dnt=true&embedId=twitter-widget-0&frame=false&hideCard=false&hideThread=false&id=1316379859896209423&lang=en&origin=https%3A%2F%2Ftechcabal.com%2F2020%2F10%2F14%2Fnigeria-internet-shutdown-2020-end-sars%2F&siteScreenName=techcabal&theme=light&widgetsVersion=ed20a2b%3A1601588405575&width=500px

‘Protection from falsehood’

Every internet shutdown has a common theme: the government wants to dictate what information should be exchanged by people in a country, whether between themselves or with those outside. 

The government in question may not be a dictatorship but it sure wants to dictate.

Nigeria hasn’t had an internet shutdown. There are good reasons to believe it won’t happen, the strongest being that the country’s banking system is more cashless than ever before. 

Over ₦15 billion (~ $33 million) was transacted through Nigeria’s Instant Payment terminal in September 2020 alone. Mobile money operations in 2019 were valued at ₦5.1 trillion (~ $12.7 billion), according to the Nigeria Inter-bank Settlement Scheme’s data.

In-bank transactions are falling as the use of digital bank apps and USSD services rise.

But this digital banking adoption has been driven largely by the youth – the same demographic that prioritizes the internet (and social media) as the platform of choice for media consumption. A history of Nigeria’s treatment of the media is a clear signal as to why no one should be confident of the internet’s inviolability. 

To give one example: armed soldiers raid newspaper depots on the weekend of 7th June 2014 based on “orders from above” as the BBC reported.

The newspapers were accused of “publishing and selling falsehood” and helping the distribution of explosives that would “wreak havoc.”

Six years later, these terms feel eerily familiar to internet users. The 2019 National Assembly social media bill was tagged “protection from falsehood.” This week, Flutterwave reportedly answered a brief summon by the Central Bank of Nigeria over concerns that it’s web-based payments platform was being used to aid #EndSARS protests.

Nigeria may not go ahead with an outright internet ban but it doesn’t hurt to stay vigilant. In case you need a reminder, here’s what that 2019 social media bill aimed to achieve:

Techcabal

#EndSARS: Things left unsaid, By Dakuku Peterside

On Friday, 18 December 2010, a man named Mohamed Bouazizi, protesting police corruption and ill-treatment, set himself on fire in the Tunisian city of Sidi Bouzid. This action sparked a series of protests in Tunisia. From Tunisia, the protests spread to five other countries: Libya, Egypt, Yemen, Syria and Bahrain. The consequent anti-government protests, uprisings, and armed rebellions later spread across much of the Arab world in the early 2010s. The masses were protesting oppressive regimes and a low standard of living.

Here in Nigeria, on Saturday, 3 October 2020, at Wetland Hotel, Ughelli in Delta State, a police officer attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) shot a young man, and he and his colleagues took away a Lexus SUV belonging to the victim. This event captured on video started trending, wildly, on Twitter. The resultant public outcry led to nation-wide protests tagged #EndSARS. Since 8 October the country has been overwhelmed with outcry and anger with videos and pictures showing police brutality, harassment and extortion in Nigeria. The protests were led predominantly by young Nigerians in different cities alongside many activists and celebrities.

The #EndSARS protests have gained international traction and are perhaps the most famous hashtag on Twitter in the last week. From rapper and US presidential candidate, Kayne West; Arsenal FC midfielder Mesut Ozil, to British media personality, Piers Morgan, a lot of people across the globe have lent their voice to the protest against police brutality in Nigeria.

Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, even entered the fray. He twitted the #EndSARS hashtag and urged protesters who seem to be having difficulties in securing a viable platform for raising funds for the protest to consider using bitcoin. The #EndSARS hashtag has been used over 50 million times on Twitter.

This current EndSARS protest is propelled by social media, which is playing a significant role in facilitating communication and interaction among participants of the protests. Protesters are using social media to organise demonstrations, disseminate information about their activities, and raise local and global awareness of ongoing events. With Twitter and Facebook, especially, protesters do not need the traditional media to spread their message. In this way, the movement virtually takes a life of its own.

The #EndSARS campaign is still ongoing as Nigerian youths have been camped in the streets for days now. From Lagos to Port Harcourt to Abuja, major roads are blocked, economic and social activities are severely disrupted, and unfortunately, precious lives have been lost.

There have been #EndSARS protests in London and other major global cities with young people leading the movement.

This upheaval is gradually metamorphosising into a youth protest about everything that is wrong with Nigeria. Most youths are lending their voices and venting their anger against insecurity, kidnapping and general lawlessness in all parts of the country. They are complaining bitterly against impunity, nepotism and corruption. They complain against grinding poverty and low quality of living of the majority. They complain against the insensitivity of some government officials who act like colossal demigods bestriding the local and national space filled with people they consider nincompoops. They complain against the high rate of unemployment and the worsening state of under-employment faced by over 70% of Nigerians. In summation, it is a symbol of all sorts of frustration with the Nigerian nation.

Important rhetorical questions arise at this juncture: does government need a protest before tackling these myriads of issues? Should all stakeholders not listen to the “voices of the voiceless” youths and start the necessary engagements and changes to avert any impending doom in the horizon?

The problem with the protests is that there are signs that no one can determine how it is going to end. For instance, although the government conceded to the demand of the protesters and disbanded SARS, the protesters still demanded an address by the President. The President addressed the nation on the issue, yet the protesters are demanding for more. They had a 5-point demand, which the government has met, but they are still protesting. Many people are unsure what the current direction of the protesters is. What is clear is that Nigerian youths are very angry with the current situation in the country, which is a product of many years of visionless leadership and mismanagement.

A keen observer of events in Nigeria in the past few decades will notice that this kind of situation was on the horizon. The SARS problem and other forms of police brutality had lingered for too long. The Nigerian police are reputed to be the most corrupt in the world. Each time there is a public outcry, the authorities take cosmetic measures.

There was a time the police authorities changed the name from SARS to FSARS in reaction to acts of lawlessness, high-handedness and impunity by people who are supposed to be custodians of the law. Many see government action as window dressing as police brutality continued. Police continued treating any young man seen wearing dreadlocks or carrying a laptop as a “Yahoo Boy”, a byword for internet fraudsters; they insisted on going through peoples phones, and they killed and maimed with odious impunity. This is not to say there are no good men in the police or all police personnel are bad. Nigerian police is a force for good except for a few rotten eggs amongst them.

It is clear that the protesters mostly consist of youths who seek meaningful engagement. We have undergraduates who are at home because the Academic Staff of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) is currently on strike. The ASUU vs FG imbroglio has become a recurring decimal in the life of our nation. Incessant ASUU strikes have become part and parcel of our educational system. It is possible that with the #EndSARS protest, the chicken will finally come home to roost for the government and the society. Engagement with the youths is no longer an option or luxury; it is apt and timely.

Apart from undergraduates, millions of unemployed youths see the #EndSARS protest as an opportunity to vent their anger on the government and society they accused of failing them. Are the government and the society about to pay the price for lack of meaningful engagement with our youths? Is the government getting battered because of the difficult economic conditions, which has lingered over the years?

I was alarmed when I saw some people donating food and drinks to the protesters. In a country that is said to be the poverty capital of the world, who can convince thousands of hungry Nigerian youths to go home when the streets provide them with food to eat and for some criminal elements amongst them, the opportunity to loot? There is suspicion in some quarters that some anti-government elements are cashing in on the situation to fuel the protest even more. They provide food and logistics to the protesters and funding for other activities. This action will indeed extend the protests and portends for a sinister outcome.

The government should be careful in handling the protests and protesters. The current Covid-19 economic malaise had led the government to make some decisions that would hurt the masses in the short run but would ultimately be beneficial to all and sundry in the long run. The removal of petroleum subsidy has led to higher fuel prices and the increment in electricity tariff means that Nigerians who can see elusive electricity are paying more for it. As the economic situation becomes more challenging and harder for the citizens, so would the propensity to join in any protest that targets the government, which allows them to vent their anger.

Therefore, the government needs to continue in meaningful engagement with the protesters and ensure that our trigger-happy law enforcement agencies apply the highest degree of professionalism and restraint in dealing with the visibly angry youths. Beyond mere pronouncements, the government should take concrete actions to show that it is not business as usual.

Members of the now-disbanded SARS who engaged in wanton killing of innocent youths should face the full wrath of the law while genuine reforms of the Nigerian police starts in earnest and not by the police. Nobody should expect the police to be on the driver’s seat of police reforms. Every stakeholder who has something to offer, including the young people who are leading the protest should be involved in the reforms.

Be it as it may, the government should not allow itself to be held hostage by subversive elements who failed through the ballot box but who want to take advantage of the current situation to perform acts of sedition capable of undermining the peace and security of Nigerians. If these people are indeed opposition politicians like many people suspect, the law should take its course.

After the last of the protesters has gone home, there is a need for stakeholders to take a holistic look at governance in general. There currently exists a considerable lacuna between the government and the governed. At every election cycle, leaders make strenuous efforts to seek the support and votes of the electorate. But after elected to office, most of the leaders transform into autocrats and pseudo-despots. They enact policies and programmes that are anti-people and govern in a way that looks like those that elected them do not matter.

In most instances, the citizenry watch in awe and utter resignation as the leaders trample on all manner of norms and decency.

But as the current protests have revealed, the citizens can rise to demand that their voices are heard. Maybe after some days or weeks, the #EndSARS protesters will disperse. But it should be clear to our leaders that the Nigerian youths have realised a viable avenue of bringing about social change, protest. Taking them for granted will ultimately lead to consequences, so far-reaching that it can completely transform the fabrics of our society.

Indeed, Nigeria has everything it takes to be a great nation. However, all Nigerians must change their ways in all facets of our national existence. Every section of the country must not only be seen to have a sense of belonging but must have it. There must be justice, equity, and equal opportunities for all. Nigerians must rise above primordial sentiments of ethnicity, religiosity and clannish bigotry. We should eschew mediocrity, nepotism and impunity whilst embracing and promoting meritocracy, accountability, transparency and efficiency in managing our resources.

The #EndSARS protest has sent a clear signal that the youths of Nigeria have found their voice and the message is that we need comprehensive reform in all sectors of our country, be it security, education, healthcare, governance, economy or youth engagement. To assume that it is all about police brutality is a simplistic interpretation of a complex phenomenon.

•Dr Dakuku Peterside (DAP), leadership & organisational development consultant, is a corporate Political strategist and newspaper columnist. He can be reached on +2348033123801.

WHETHER EVIDENCE ADDUCED DURING TRIAL WITHIN TRIAL CAN BE USED IN THE MAIN TRIAL

“So PW1 was cross-examined by appellant’s counsel at the trial-within-trial, but the law says that a trial within trial is a separate and distinct proceedings from the main trial, therefore, evidence adduced therein “cannot be translated, injected or imported into the main trial”. See Ifaramoye v. State (2017) LPELR – SC, (2017) 8 NWLR (pt 1568) 457. Thus, whatever PW1 said at the trial within trial in evidence in chief or cross examination, stays there and cannot be used, in anyway or form, in the main trial.”

AYOADE V. STATE (2020) 9 NWLR (PT 1730) 577 SC @ 603 PARAS F – G, Per Augie, JSC.

#EndSARS protesters block CBN head office

Protesters demanding an end to police brutality have blocked the two entrances of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) head office in Abuja.

Chanting anti-government songs and wielding different placards, the protesters have vowed to prevent activities at the nation’s apex bank on Monday.

The protesters packed vehicles in front of the main gate of the CBN headquarters, blocking movement in and out of the premises and from connecting roads.

While hundreds of the protesters are in front of the building, some of them are also camped on the road by the rear exit of the building.

As of 9:30pm, music was blaring from loudspeakers at the premises while some of them vowed to spend the night there.

Security operatives guarding the building are on standby in case of any break out of violence.

North’s Stand On #EndSARS Validates Calls For Restructuring — Ozekhome, SAN

..Says DHIS, governors at liberty to advocate what is good for their people

Renowned constitutional lawyer and human rights activist, Mike Ozekhome has said the position of prominent leaders on the recent disbandment of the Special Anti- Robbery Squad, SARS, by the federal government has again validates the need to urgently restructure the country.

Ozekhome who spoke against the backdrop of remarks credited to the chairman, Northern Governors’ Forum and governor of Plateau state Simon Lalong that the North is against the dissolution of SARS, noted that in preferring to stick with SARS, the nation should now be restructured to enable the component parts decide on what works for them.

Governor Lalong had while briefing President Muhammadu Buhari recently on the issue said: “Some people said they don’t want SARS, some said they want SARS but a reformed SARS. They want a reformed SARS because as far as they are concerned, some of these SARS operatives help them in addressing insecurity.

“Our opinion and conclusion at this stage is that let us not just say that we are throwing away the baby with the bath water. If there are good ones, you don’t chase them away.

“So as SARS is banned, we are now looking forward to an opinion because most of the states in the North said no. They want SARS because SARS helps them.

It would be recalled that few days after the disbandment of the police special unit, a non-governmental organization, Digital Home with Internal Solution, DHIS founded by Ambassador Ibrahim Bala Aboki faulted what it called the “hurried” dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, of the Nigerian Police Force by Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, saying the development is capable of posing a serious security threat across the country.

Addressing a world press conference in Kano, Aboki noted that though, some bad eggs had over the years portrayed SARS in bad light; reform, he said should have been the way out order than outright disbandment.

“DHIS condemns in totality the uncivilized approach by most political commentators through their reckless use of social media to fuel this ugly development. To us in DHIS, the disbandment of SARS is a serious security threat to the nation, especially because of the onerous task of this special arm of the Nigerian Police Force. Nigerians will recall that before the creation of SARS in 1992, there were so many cases of armed robbery, kidnapping and other security vices. But the activities of this special force have reduced the operation of these criminal gangs across the country.

“We are aware that there are some few bad elements in the force that have been terrorizing innocent citizens of Nigeria, but we are totally against the disbandment of this special unit in the Nigeria Police Force. Rather, we want to advocate for a total overhaul of not just the operation of SARS, but the entire police force in order to meet with the demand of Nigerians on community policing.”

Speaking exclusively with Vanguard in Abuja, the Senior Advocate of Nigeria said: “If the North says they want SARS, and the entire South-South, South-East and South-West say they don’t want, it is a reaffirmation of the urgent need for the restructuring of Nigeria that we have been talking about.

“It means that the requirement of one state or region are not exactly the same with others. This is the reaffirmation of the urgency of now and yesterday to urgently restructure Nigeria and allow each state and each geo-political zone to do things the way they deem fit.

“The South-West has started Amotekun, the South-East and South-South, as well as the Middle Belt, should start their own. This will not in any way means that Nigeria has balkanised. It simply means that like the United States of America, every state does its own thing its own way.”

Protest against SARS and police brutality has continued nationwide in the past one week with some governors reportedly embarrassed by a mass of youths registering their displeasure on the state of affairs in the country.

#EndSARS: NHRC Directs State Offices To Monitor Human Rights Violations During Protest From October 19

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has directed all its offices in the respective States including Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, to monitor the ongoing #EndSARS protest across the nation, as it relates to human rights violations.

This was disclosed in a tweet on Sunday by the Commission which was sighted by TheNigeriaLawyer, titled “NOTICE TO ALL NHRC STATE OFFICES AND HEADQUARTERS ABUJA. MONITORING OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS DURING THE #ENDSARS  PROTESTS.”

“Please note that at the state & monitoring Dept at headquarters, you are required to go out and follow the #EndSARS  protesters to monitor the protests in the various states and Abuja to protect their human rights.”

In addition, it was added that the essence is to monitor and protect the human rights of the protesters.

“Please note that at the state & monitoring Dept at headquarters, you are required to go out and follow the #EndSARS  protesters to monitor the protests in the various states and Abuja to protect their human rights.”

In addition, it was added that they “are to bring reports of any human rights violations by security and law enforcement personnel or thugs against the peaceful #EndSARS protesters. You are to send a weekly reports of the monitoring exercise.”

Furthermore, it was directed that an officer is to be saddled with the responsibility and reports should be sent every Sunday.

“An officer should be charged with this activity in the state or Monitoring Dept to ensure you send your report by Sunday evening every week. This exercise to go with and monitor the safety of the #EndSARS  protesters will commence from tomorrow Monday 19th October 2020.”

“All reports to the commissions’ email are to be marked for the attention of monitoring Dept”, it was concluded.

#EndSARS: Defence Minister Warns Protesters On National Security

The Minister of Defence Maj Gen Bashir Salihi Magashi (Rtd) has cautioned EndSARS protesters against breaching National Security.

General Magashi gave the caution when the National Coordinator Buhari Campaign Organisation (BCO) Danladi Pasali led the Executives drawn from its Headquarters, Zonal and State levels on a courtesy visit to him at the Ministry of Defence, Ship House, Abuja.

He extolled the virtues of President Muhammadu Buhari whom he described as a forthright leader and thanked members of the Buhari Campaign Organisation for promoting his political ideology, democratic governance, Rule of Law and philosophy.

The Minister of Defence who told the group of his pioneering membership of the Buhari Organisation which dates back to the years of All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) told them to fortify their flanks and ranks against subversive penetration of mischief-makers capable of causing distraction, disaffection and division among them.

He assured them of the support of the Ministry of Defence in actualising their lofty programmes in raising the bar of national security.

He said they should leverage on their structure in the 774 Local Council areas and 36 States of the Federation as well as the Federal Capital Territory to gather intelligence and channel it to the appropriate authorities for action.

Earlier, the National Coordinator of the Organisation, Danladi Pasali said the objective of the courtesy call was to congratulate the Minister on his one year in office and to thank him for emplacing what he called gigantic reforms in the Military.

While thanking General Magashi for his focused leadership in contributing to the National Peace and Security, they offered to render service to the relevant Authorities to burst crimes capable of threatening Peace and Security in the country.

The National Coordinator who recalled the dogged and dedicated role played by the group in the electoral victories of President Muhammadu Buhari in the 2011 and 2019 Presidential elections said the Organisation is spurred to establish National/ Community Support Security Initiative to key into the fight against Boko HaramTerrorists in the North East, Banditry in the North Central and kidnapping in the Niger Delta Region.

Venezuelan Envoy Asks ECOWAS Court To Stop US From Extraditing Him

A Special Envoy to the Government of Venezuela, Alex Nain Saab Morán, has through his lawyer Femi Falana, SAN, urged the West African regional court, the ECOWAS Court of Justice in Abuja to halt the plan to extradite him from Cape Verde to the United States of America.

Morán, a dual Colombian and Venezuelan nationality, who has been in detention since his arrest by Cape Verde authorities four months ago, urged the court to suspend the extradition process as a precautionary measure pending the court’s decision on the merits.

According to Morán’s legal team led by Mr Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Morán, who is a Special Envoy to the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is being “arbitrarily detained” by Cape Verde pending extradition to the United States.

Falana in the application filed on behalf of his client on September 30, 2020, said the extradition request initiated by the US authorities was an offshoot of “the political conflict between the United States of America and Venezuela”.

Cape Verde is the sole respondent in the suit.

He argued that as of the time of his client’s arrest on June 12, 2020, “the complainant was carrying out a special mission on behalf of Venezuela and was not the subject of an arrest warrant or even a red alert in Cape Verde”.

Falana who alleged that his client’s detention in Cape Verde was illegal and arbitrary, argued that Morán “enjoys immunity and inviolability in his capacity and status as Special Envoy to the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela”.

He added, “So far, Cape Verde’s executive and judicial authorities have ignored the Complainant’s claim that he cannot be subjected to extradition proceedings in Cape Verde and that, therefore, his protective custody for the purpose of extradition violates his fundamental right of freedom.

“In this sense, Article 22 (1) of the Constitution of Cape Verde provides that everyone has the right to request the Constitutional Court, through a writ of amparo or protection appeal, through a habeas corpus, to protect their constitutionally recognised fundamental rights, freedoms and guarantees.”

He also maintained that the “Red Alert issued by INTERPOL against the complainant is illegal since it was issued after his arrest and violates international law and consequently the rules of INTERPOL”.

He argued further that if the complainant is extradited to the US, “he will be subject to torture due to his political position and the sensitive information he has, which would also constitute a violation of Article 5 of the African Charter’.

The lawyer urged the court to halt the extradition of the complainant as requested from Cape Verde by the US, “ and release him under the supervision and responsibility of the Ambassador of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, accredited to the Republic of Cape Verde”.

Falana also wants the court to order Cape Verde to ensure that the complainant is treated as a Special Envoy in transit, in particular, ensuring his inviolability, freedom of communication and security.

He also wants the court to order Cape Verde to refrain from taking any other measures “that may harm the rights claimed by the complainant and / or aggravate or extend the dispute submitted to the Court, or compromise the implementation of any decision that the Court may render”.

According to Falana, the ECOWAS Court of Justice has prima facie jurisdiction to hear the case since the respondent (Cape Verde) is a party to the ECOWAS Protocol on the Court of Justice, and the purpose of the complaint’s application concerns alleged violation of his rights which are within the jurisdiction of the court to protect.

He also noted that Cape Verde is part of the Treaty on the Economic Community of West African States which establishes the ECOWAS Court of Justice under Article 15 (1) of the treaty.

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