Group faults claims of alleged ill-treatment of 24 suspects in police custody

By Albert Akota

A Civil Society Organisation, Citizens Action for Good Governance, CAGG, yesterday, faulted claims of alleged ill-treatment of 24 suspects in police custody over forgery and impersonation during recruitment of 10, 000 police personnel.
This was contained in a statement signed by the National Coordinator, CAGG, Nazir Galandanchi, where the organization said the claim of one human rights activist, Mahadi Shehu, was not in accordance with principle of fair hearing as embedded in the Constitution.
According to the statement the Police have the constitutional powers to investigate and punish anybody found culpable in any offence including its officers who are found corrupt and tarnishing image of the noble profession.
The statement pointed out that Shehu failed to carry out thorough investigation based his statement and claims from one party and allowed his emotions to overrun his objectivity in the matter he claimed to be in the know.
The statement reads in part, “We have done a thorough investigation over the claims of one Mahadi Shehu who called himself an activist alleging that 24 young men under the age of 28 were ill-treated and dehumanized by the Nigerian Police Force in one of its facilities in Abuja.
“From our findings the 24 suspects were alleged to impersonate 24 persons from Kano State whose slots were taken and given to them by some police officers that connived with them to commit the crime.
“We await outcome of the court judgment on this case, which we believe the law will take its course no matter the personalities involved in this matter”, it added.
The statement advised Mahadi Shehu to carry out in depth investigations before churning out information to the public, because it might mislead the public, cause violence and destruction of lives and property, as it turns out to be fake news.