The Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM, is saddened by the dastardly and unnecessary killing of Nigerians by security agents without recourse to the law as happened, recently, at Apo in Abuja, on alleged suspicion of belonging to a terror group.
The Party calls for an immediate stop to all extra judiciary killings and urge security agents and all security Organizations to do the hard work of apprehending criminals instead of killing them. Killing criminals without trial does not solve crimes. It only deprives security agencies of the information needed to understand and preempt future breaches of the law.
The National Chairman of the party, Bashir Yusuf Ibrahim, made this observation through his Media Advisor, Alaba Yusuf, adding, “while we acknowledge the current security challenges in the country, particularly the menace posed by insurgents, kidnappers, armed robbers and other criminal gangs, caution must not be thrown to the wind by security personnel where human lives are at stake.”
Ibrahim further stated that, “the main role of government is to protect citizens, guarantee their safety and cater for their welfare as laid down in the Constitution. We at PDM demand immediate, independent and thorough investigation of the Abuja massacre by credible, non-governmental organizations. We also demand that previous extra judicial killings elsewhere in the nation be probed so that all perpetrators of this heinous crime could be brought to book.”
Finally, PDM urges all local and international NGOs to do their job and remain vigilant by beaming their searchlights on agents of the State who have created a reputation for themselves for avoidable miscarriage of justice and human rights violation in Nigeria. “We enjoin Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the National Human Rights Commission and the Nigerian Civil Society Movement to rise up to this challenge, in order to curb the unnecessary and disproportionate use of force by gun-wielding security agents against helpless, hapless and armless civilians. Innocent Nigerians must be saved from untimely death,” Ibrahim stressed.
