October 12, 2012
The South East/South South Professionals (SESSP) has expressed its sadness and shock at the brutal killing of four undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt by an alleged vigilante group of the Aluu community in Port Harcourt, Rivers State last week.
The South East/South South Professionals (SESSP) has expressed its sadness and shock at the brutal killing of four undergraduates of the University of Port Harcourt by an alleged vigilante group of the Aluu community in Port Harcourt, Rivers State last week.
Condemning the killing in a statement signed by Emeka Ugwu-Oju, its president, SESSP described the act itself as dastardly, cruel and a clear demonstration of failure of the country’s criminal justice system. It called for a comprehensive probe into the killing to fish out the culprits for appropriate punishment. “At this turn of the century, it is a thing of utmost regret that Nigerian citizens are still being set upon and killed by their fellow citizens in gory extra judicial circumstances as the four undergraduates were subjected to,” the statement said. “It is a thing of shock that the Nigerian system still tolerates these vestiges of permittivity at a time the human race is making far reaching advances in governance, law and order, among many fortes where monumental advances have been recorded.” SESSEP noted that while it is in no position to determine the culpability or otherwise of the killed students on the allegations leveled against them that prompted the bestial treatment meted out to them, nothing and no act of criminality justifies it. “We still believe that sufficient leverage should be given the law enforcement agencies to deal with every act of criminality committed in a country that is operating under democracy,” it said, adding that resorting to self help in dealing with security issues breeds more anarchy and mayhem, which negates the essence of government. It called for a comprehensive probe of the incident with a view to finding the culprits and punishing them appropriately, and demanded a deep and incisive overhaul of the country’s security agencies as well as the criminal justice system to restore confidence and faith in the system and disavow resort to self help. “It is the opinion of the SESSP that this case should provide a push to the relevant authorities to reform the country’s justice system, reform the law enforcement agencies and ensure that Nigerians are dissuaded from taking the law into their hands in any given situation,” the statement said.googletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('content1'); });
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