The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has claimed that the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, does not have the capacity to investigate the invasion of Supreme Court Justice Mary Odili’s residence by armed security operatives.
HURIWA spokesman, Emmanuel Onwubiko, released a statement on their concern over how the IGP will handle the investigation moving forward.
“The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, affirms that the announcement by the INSPECTOR General of Police that his office will investigate the invasion by armed police operatives and other security forces of the Maitama, Abuja home of Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Mrs Mary Odili is inappropriate and should be rejected by stakeholders including the hierarchy of the National Judicial Council and the hierarchy of the Nigerian Bar Association,” the statement read.
HURIWA also cited that the police cannot conduct the investigation impartially since its men were personally involved in the incident.
“This is because the Nigerian Police Force can’t be trusted to transparently conduct an unbiased, dispassionate, professionally objective investigation of its own conduct going by the fluid antecedents of the police. The police hierarchy suffers from self-inflicted credibility deficits,” Mr Onwubiko added.
The group suggested independent forensic experts should be involved in the investigation of Odili’s residence.
HURIWA noted the handling of Abba Kyari, former Head of Inspector-General’s Intelligence Response Team (IRT), as an indication that the police cannot be trusted as a neutral party in Odili’s case.
