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HURIWA Condemns Killing of Journalist; wants police reforms urgently

April 25, 2010
Image removed.The killing last weekend in Lagos of Mr. Edo Egbagwu, the Journalist working with The Nation newspaper by suspected assassins has been condemned by the Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, even as the Rights group blamed the unprecedented rise in violent crime to poor and inefficient policing methods by the Nigeria police. Specifically, Mr. Egbagwu, a Judiciary reporter with the Lagos-based Newspaper was reportedly murdered at about 7pm in his residence in Shasha-Lagos on Saturday even as his professional colleagues alleged that his killing was in connection with his professional duties as a Journalist.
HURIWA in a statement jointly endorsed by its National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and its senior program manager Miss. Ogom Kifordu (esq) demanded that the Acting president Dr. Good Luck Jonathan immediately begin the implementation of the recommendations of all the previous presidential panels on police reforms so as to make operatives of the Nigeria police Force sufficiently trained and equipped to prevent and dictate violent crimes in the country. The Rights Group demanded action from the Federal Ministry of Information on providing effective security to media workers in Nigeria.

The Rights group stated that violent killings of Journalists and other Nigerians by well armed gangs across the country have continued because the criminals are emboldened by the unfortunate reality that the present crop of operatives in the Nigeria police are either incapable of arresting and prosecuting the culprits or are unwilling to enforce the rule of law in Nigeria due to a combination of factors including gross professional indiscipline, incompetence and/or lack of proper motivation by the Federal Government.

The Rights group stated that in our contemporary times, operatives of the police in developed countries are not only sufficiently equipped, trained and deployed to use the international best practices and skills to prevent crimes before they occur or to arrest and prosecute culprits whenever crimes occur. HURIWA argued that if criminals are not apprehended and effectively prosecuted and punished for their offences then we are providing soft landing for a regime of impunity to be institutionalized in Nigeria. The Rights group further opined that if violent crimes are left unchallenged and unsolved then democracy is imperiled in Nigeria.

HURIWA which advised the Federal government to build the necessary functional infrastructures like regular electricity and install street surveillance cameras in all urban cities all across Nigeria to check criminal activities of armed gangs and hoodlums also advocated the establishment of functional forensic crime laboratories in major police formations to be operated by well trained Nigeria operatives to enable police prosecutors gather quality and fool proof scientific evidence to ensure that suspected criminals are convicted in the courts of competent jurisdiction in Nigeria.

According to the Rights group; “we sincerely urge the federal government to implement practical and workable law enforcement measures and to procure the latest state of the art crime fighting facilities and trained operatives of the various law enforcement agencies in the use of these facilities so as to combat the unprecedented wave of violent killings of Nigerians. The Federal Government owes Nigerians the constitutional obligations to protect their lives and property from the violent activities of armed gangs and hoodlums.”

HURIWA also challenged the operatives and hierarchies of the Nigeria police to arrest the real killers of all the journalists killed in the line of their duties by armed gangs even as it advised media owners to introduce special security measures to protect media workers. The Rights group suggested that media workers who work as investigative journalists could be licensed by the Police authorities to bear arms to protect themselves from violent hoodlums.

The Rights group further advocated the introduction of workable insurance schemes to provide for the up keep of the dependants of Journalists killed in the line of their duties.

HURIWA further carpeted the police thus; “we are shocked that in spite of the great leadership qualities demonstrated by the Inspector General of police Mr. Ogbonna Onovo, most operatives are still operating as if it is business as usual by not displaying exceptional skills in detecting and preventing violent criminal activities from escalating all across Nigeria”.

“The police must give account to the public on why the actual killers of these Journalists-Abayomi Ogundeji; Omololu Falobi, Godwin Agbroko, Bayo Ohu, have not been arrested, prosecuted and punished for these dastardly crimes;” HURIWA stressed.

The Rights group also called for the removal of the Lagos state commissioner of police for his failure to prevent the spate

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