Human rights lawyer and Lagos-based Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana, has called on the Attorneys-General of Niger and Ondo to, without any further delay, prosecute those responsible for the mass deaths of over 85 citizens in the two states.
Falana, in a statement on Sunday titled ‘Attorneys-General of Niger and Ondo States Should Prosecute Suspects Responsible for Mass Murder of Scores of Citizens,’ frowned at the circumstances of the deaths.
The SAN revealed that last Tuesday, operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, arrested over 50 young men for alleged illegal mining in a village near Borgu in Niger.
According to the SAN, ‘Two days after the arrest, 37 of the suspects were found dead inside the detention facility where they were held, reportedly due to overcrowding and poor ventilation.’
To confirm the incident, NSCDC spokesperson Babawale Afolabi said more than 50 people were arrested, and profiling and documentation were still ongoing before charges could be filed.
But the human rights activist charged the Attorney-General of Niger State, Nasiru Mu’azu, with ensuring a speedy investigation by the State Police Command and the immediate prosecution of all indicted officers by the State Ministry of Justice.
Falana likened the incident to the 1980 tragedy where 50 criminal suspects suffocated to death inside a police Black Maria van at the Tinubu Magistrate Court premises in Lagos.
The SAN said, ‘Notwithstanding the unfortunate incident, law enforcement agencies have continued to detain lowly placed suspects in overcrowded cells in detention facilities throughout the country.’
Falana expressed sadness that while rich suspects are kept behind counters or in special cells referred to as ‘White House’ in correctional centres, poor citizens are held in inhumane, overcrowded cells without ventilation.
The human rights crusader stated that, ‘The official outrage is indeed hypocritical because the death of suspects in dehumanising incarceration in police stations and other detention facilities in the country is a regular phenomenon,’ even as he urged that, to honour the 37 victims, the Federal and State Governments must ensure all detention centres in Nigeria comply with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, also known as the Nelson Mandela Rules.
The SAN equally cited confirmation by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, that 48 persons have died out of 182 reported cases in a mass illness outbreak linked to consumption of suspected locally prepared alcoholic and herbal concoctions in Ondo State.
NAFDAC had made public that five persons have been rendered totally blind while two others suffered partial blindness.
The affected communities include New Town, Odole, Okele, Orita Odigbo, Araromi-Obu and Oniparaga, with the highest casualties recorded in Odigbo Town and Araromi-Obu in Odigbo Local Government Area.
The outbreak is also said to have spread to Irele Local Government Area, with figures still being verified.
The senior lawyer argued that NAFDAC has confirmed the arrest of 15 persons in connection with the production, sale, and distribution of the poisonous beverages.
He also challenged the Attorney-General of Ondo State, Dr Olukayode Ajulo, SAN, to take over the case from NAFDAC and ensure diligent prosecution of the suspects.