HURIWA tells EFCC to stop harassing students in Owerri

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has asked the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to stop intimidating, harassing and humiliating students in private hostels in Owerri, Imo State.

The development followed a series of complaints by students of tertiary schools in Owerri to the civil rights advocacy group.

HURIWA, while supporting a law-based anti-corruption drive, urged the statutory bodies not to deny innocent youths of the enjoyment of their fundamental rights by demonising students based on assumptions.

In a statement by the national coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, it specifically condemned a situation whereby armed operatives of EFCC would storm the hostels of both female and male students in Owerri and round up everyone, without any evidence linking them to fraud or any misdemeanour.

In another development, the rights group has carpeted the Minister of Health, Osagie Ehanire, for his plan to import foreign doctors for the nation’s public hospitals.

It described the idea as primitive and retrogressive.

According to HURIWA, the plan has shown the government’s lack of adherence to standard policy implementation in the administration of the health sector.

The group, therefore, asked the two health ministers to resign, if they had run out of ideas to fix the problems of healthcare in the country. 

“It was in this same administration that Nigerians were told by the Health Minister, Dr. Isaac Adewole, that Nigeria was producing too many medical professionals and doctors. The minister then comically told the doctors who are unable to find job slots to embrace tailoring and other vocational jobs.

“We in HURIWA, with a membership of over 10,000 people made up mostly of youngsters, including medical doctors, are disappointed that those running public health policies in Nigeria are bereft of ideas that can turn around the health sector.”

What Nigerians need, according to the group, are not foreign doctors, but medical equipment and facilities that are in tune with the advances in the technology of the 21st century, as it has enough competent doctors to serve the populace.

“Due to corruption by the health institutions, virtually all the yearly budgets for health in the public sector are stolen by politicians.”