Rights Group To Sue IGP Over Unlawful Arrest Of Delta Journalists

The human rights group, Centre for the Vulnerable & the Underprivileged, (CENTREP), has threatened to sue the Inspector General of Police, Muhammed Adamu over the reported arrest and detention of some journalists in Warri, Delta state by his personnel.

Executive Director of the group, Oghenejabor Ikimi, a lawyer, in a statement on Thursday, said his group would file a fundamental rights suit in the High Court, Warri on behalf of all the said journalists against the police and claim damages at large cum an order to render public apology in all the national dailies, to the said journalist.

He said that the arrest and detention of five journalists from the Warri Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) by Men of the SARS, IGP Squad at the Area Command Office, Warri for several hours in lieu of their colleague, Mr. Cletus Opukeme and without any formal charge, is condemnable, unlawful, unconstitutional and a violation of their fundamental rights.

“Thus in line with Centrep’s objectives of deepening our democracy and human rights culture in our polity, we have decided to take over the case of the above five journalists pro-bono by filing separate fundamental rights suits on their behalf against the Police at the High Court, Warri in a bid to defending and/or enforcing their fundamental rights.

“We believe that such a suit would teach the Police on how to be more professional and to respect human rights of the citizenry while discharging their statutory duties”.

BIGPEN had reported that the journalists were taken into custody by a team of men of the SARS, IGP Squad who stormed the Press Centre of the Warri Correspondent Chapel of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) and arrested the Correspondent of Daily Post Online, Mr. Matthew Omonigho in lieu of Mr. Cletus Opukeme, a journalist and a colleague of the former.

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Mr. Matthew Omonigho was in the process assaulted by his captors who tore his jeans trouser and cut his belt before taking him to the Area Command Office, Warri where he was detained.

Four other journalists including, Mr. Edeki Igafe (NAN Correspondent), Mr. Francis Sadhere (Business Day Correspondent), Mr. Onyekachukwu Meluwa (Punch Newspaper Correspondent) and Mr. Christopher Odamah (a Freelancer) who were sent to the Area Command Office, Warri to find out the offence Omonigho had committed were also threw behind bars.

They were later released after a N1 million bail bond was signed on their behalf.