PSC, Amnesty to check rights abuses by police

The Police Service Commission (PSC) has pledged to work with the Nigerian office of Amnesty International (AI) to drastically reduce cases of human rights abuses by Nigerian police.

PSC chairman, Alhaji Musiliu Smith, conveyed the commission’s position when he received a delegation from the Amnesty office. Smith told the delegation that the commission had already started addressing human rights issues among officers and men, but requested the group to carry the commission along in its findings before releasing such reports.

The former Inspector General of Police (IGP) said the commission had since set a new agenda for the police, which hopefully would ensure that police operations respect human rights and be in accordance with laid down rules.He noted that PSC had received a lot of complaints of police misconduct, but promised to ensure that such complaints were treated speedily with all the fairness they deserve.

Smith drew AI’s attention to the state of Nigerian prisons, asking it to assist the authorities in ensuring proper reform of inmates, to minimise the incidence of re-cycling released prisoners back into crime.

Leader of the delegation and director, AI, Nigerian office, Osai Ojigho, told the PSC boss that they were in his office to engage the commission in respect of the reform in the police force, especially the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and other legislative reforms.“We are around to share our findings regarding certain abuses and violations of human rights by the officers of the Nigeria Police Force,” she said, expressing happiness that SARS was undergoing reform.