The Nigeria Bar Association, Ikere Branch and the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Ekiti State Council have called on security agencies in the state to always respect the rights of citizens in the course of discharging their duties.
The two Associations made the call after a private interaction with some suspects in the custody of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps, NSCDC, Ekiti State Command as part of activities marking the 2024 Human Rights Day.
Human Rights Day is observed annually around the world every 10th of December as declared by the United Nations General Assembly with the aim of protecting the rights of every citizen regardless of race, colour, religion, sex, language, political or other status.
During the interaction, the suspects numbering about fifteen all confirmed to the delegation that they were treated well by officers of the command and have been given opportunities to relate with their families and lawyers in respect of the various charges against them
The suspects also confirmed that they were not tortured nor maltreated by the officers.
Addressing the delegation in his office, the Commandant of the NSCDC, Ekiti State, Dr Seun Sosina who was deployed barely four months ago affirmed that since inception he had always harped on the need for officers to operate with decency and respect the rights of every citizen.
Dr Sosina confirmed that the command had also handed over some suspects arrested whose cases do not fall within the constitution role of the command to appropriate security agencies for proper prosecution.
He promised that the command under his watch would serve as example to other agencies in terms of discipline, diligence, integrity and professionalism.
Earlier, the NUJ Chairman, Comrade Kayode Babatuyi and the Vice Chairman, NBA, Ikere Branch who doubles as Chairman, Human Rights Committee, Barrister Iyanu Olumuagun said the organizations would not tolerate any act of abuse of human rights urging other security agencies to take a cue from NSCDC.
They commended the Commandant for a job well done based on revelations from the suspects and asked him to sustain the tempo.