₦airaland Forum

The citizens and inhabitants of Amichi, a rural community located in nnewi south local government of Anambra state, Nigeria has accused the regional state security operatives popularly known as Anambra state vigilante (central division) of committing significant human rights abuses against it's citizens.

According to a report released through anonymous but credible sources, regional state security operatives are said to be guilty of arbitrary arrest, unlawful detention, torture and unlawful interference of privacy, among others.

Although the constitution and law prohibit arbitrary arrest and detention, the regional state security operatives often employed these practices. The law also provides for the right of any person to challenge the lawfulness of his or her arrest or detention in court, but detainees often found such protections ineffective, largely due to denial of such lawful priviledges.

The report also faulted the arbitrary abuse of the regional state security operatives power to make arrest without warrant. It stated that security officials often detain the suspects more than 48 hours as required by law.

The law requires an arresting officer to inform the accused of charges at the time of arrest, transport the accused to their station for proper interrogation, before processing of their case file within a reasonable time, and allow the suspect to obtain counsel and post bail.

The report lastly stated that they have long decried the upsurge in the cases of rights abuse by these security operatives in their community and they are consequently demanding that the state government intervene by implementing proper mechanism to be put in place to stop the violations of their rights and ensure that no erring security operative escape justice.