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January 25, 2023
The rights organisation in a statement issued on Wednesday said Arase's appointment was not based on merit but as a reward.
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has kicked against the appointment of former Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase as chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC).
The rights organisation in a statement issued on Wednesday said Arase's appointment was not based on merit but as a reward for the 2015/2016 massacre of 250 unarmed Southeasterners as IGP for President Muhammadu Buhari’s government.
In the statement signed by the principal officers - Emeka Umeagbalasi, Obianuju Igboeli and Chidinma Udegbunam, Intersociety regretted that appointments into Nigeria’s federal public institutions are done without recourse to the country’s democratic and cultural pluralism and moral ethics.
"It has become so bad and unchecked that the country’s presidency goes about with reckless abandon flooding the country’s hallowed public institutions with dark forces and champions of barbarism as well as persons of unclean character and integrity; in addition to those promoting radical religiosity, ethnicity and butcheries.
"In the policing, security and defense establishments including their oversights, competence, professionalism, geo-balancing, merit and moral uprightness have disappeared paving ways for senior officers who masterminded or still mastermind conduct atrocities including the butchering of defenseless and unarmed citizens and other forms of grave crimes against persons and properties being recklessly rewarded with plum defense, policing and security posts or appointments and postings," the organisation decried.
It added, "Our gathered and archived pieces of intelligence have revealed that a floodgate of former top military and police officers that held sway between July 2015 and Dec 2022 are making riotous inroads into Nigeria’s public institutions for appointment and headship following their regional and international blacklisting over their grisly murderous human rights records. Retired IGP Solomon Arase had gone into oblivion since his retirement as Nigeria’s IGP.
"It is needless to reveal what he might have gone through internationally or regionally following his dark days as Nigeria’s IGP. As IGP, he supervised and vicariously masterminded several mass killings of unarmed and defenseless Easterners including street protesters, passersby, night vigil attendants, etc.
"His infamous ‘shoot at sight order’ will forever be unforgotten in the annals of the country and the living and posthumous minds of living and dead Easterners.
"On 30th August 2015, he ordered and no fewer than 30 unarmed protesters were killed in Port Harcourt, Yenagoa, Uyo, Calabar, Enugu and Onitsha. On 2nd Dec 2015, he ordered and 30 unarmed Easterners were killed at Onitsha Niger Bridgehead, Obodoukwu Road, Owerri Road and other parts of Onitsha.
"On 29th Jan 2016, he ordered and 20 unarmed Easterners were killed in Aba. On 9th Feb 2016, he ordered and not less than 30 unarmed Easterners were killed at Ngwa High School in Aba. On 29th and 30th May 2016, he ordered and 140 unarmed Easterners were massacred in Onitsha, Nkpor and Asaba.”
"Intersociety hereby strongly condemns the appointment of chief conduct atrocity perpetrator: Retired IGP Solomon Arase as Chairman of the Police Service Commission and calls for his immediate resignation," the statement partly read.