Ayodele Olalere
In celebration of this year’s United Nation’s Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman Punishments, a group, Access to Justice (A2J) has called on the government to end all forms of torture in Nigeria.
In a statement by the group, the use of torture by security agencies in Nigeria ‘has remained a subject of foremost concern.’
“Till date, torture remains a tool commonly utilised by security and law enforcement agencies for the interrogation, coercion, intimidation and punishment of crime suspects and detainees,” the statement stated.
The group added in spite Nigeria being a signatory to the Convention; “the use of torture persisted within our national systems, and still does.”
The group further argued though Nigeria is currently battling unrest such as ‘deadly crimes, insurgency, terrorism, banditry and kidnappings, the temptation to use torture to curb the vices “must be vigorously resisted.”
“Torture is never, and will never be okay. Torture punishes innocence! It is often used against the weak. The right not to be tortured or mistreated is not expendable even in difficult times, but is worth defending by every society,” the statement stated.
” However, given how entrenched the use of torture has become in our country, and how in fact, its use is justified as proper and needful to fight crime and insecurity by many members of our law enforcement and security units, the struggle to end torture in Nigeria has only just begun.
We realize the anti-torture struggle will be long and arduous, but we must collectively, resolve to win it no matter how daunting it is.”
The group call on the “Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice to accelerate the process for the approval of the Implementing Rules and Regulations for the Anti-Torture Act in line with Section 12 of the Act.”
It also urged “all heads of law enforcement and investigative agencies to establish special departments in their agencies to:
conduct training for members of their respective organizations on the Act,
monitor their members’ compliance with the Anti-Torture Act; and investigate alleged contraventions of the provisions Act,
refer cases to the appropriate institutions for prosecution.”
“We call on the Nigerian judiciary to do more to eradicate the use of torture in the judicial system, and to hold accountable those who perpetrate it,” it added.
