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Falana condemns arrest, parading of Peace Corps Commandant by Police

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Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana, has condemned the recent arrest and parading of Mr Dickson Akor, the National Commandant, Peace Corps of Nigeria, by the Nigerian Police.

Falana spoke with newsmen on Saturday in Abuja after securing the release of Akor from police custody.

The police in a combined operation with the Depart of State Services and the Nigerian Army on Feb. 28, raided the headquarters of the Peace Corps of Nigeria in Abuja.

During the operation, they arrested Akor and 48 other members of the corps.

A statement issued by the Police Spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, said intelligence reports showed that the Peace Corps and other similar groups were acquiring weapons and conducting covert trainings in different locations across the country.

In the statement, Moshood said such action violated a 2013 gazette of the Federal Government that banned such groups.

Falana, who described police invasion of the headquarters of the Peace Corps of Nigeria as illegal and unconstitutional, said that the organisation was not operating illegally.

He said, “generally, the parade of criminal suspects in the country by the Police is illegal.

“In this case, apart from the registration of its trustees under the Companies and Allied Matters Act, there are two judgments of the Federal High Court restraining the police from harassing and intimidating members of the organization.’’

The human rights lawyer said that he was also negotiating for the re-opening of the office of the Peace Corps of Nigeria.

“They must be allowed to operate under the law and we will get to that state where the police will appreciate that Nigeria is under-policed.

“We need volunteers, young men and women who should be organised by the state to handle those duties that will not require the intervention of the Police,’’ he said.

The human rights lawyer emphasised that crime like terrorism, herdsmen attack, armed robbery and kidnapping thrive in the country because the country is under-policed.

“As at 2011, the Federal Government of Nigeria decided to engage the services of 380,000 police personnel, between then and now, only 10, 000 are being employed.

“There is no way you can police about 180 million people with barely 380, 000 police personnel out of which about 120, 000 are guiding the elite and corporate bodies in the country.

“I thought the police should have embraced a body like the Peace Corps of Nigeria to make their job easier because the Nigerian Police operates under very difficult situations.

“Most communities are not policed, so herdsmen move into farms and kill people.

NEWSVERGE, published by The Verge Communications is an online community of international news portal and social advocates dedicated to bringing you commentaries, features, news reports from a Nigerian-African perspective. A unique organization, founded in the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, comprising of ordinary people with an overriding commitment to seeking the truth and publishing it without fear or favour. The Verge Communications is fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a corporate organization.

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