Ndubuisis Udokoro was among 17 persons reported in various news media on Wednesday June 18, 2014 to have been paraded the previous day in Anambra State by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Usman Gwari and the O/C (Commander) of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), Awkuzu, Anambra State- Mr. James Nwafor allegedly for kidnapping.
NOPRIN had, a week earlier, received a complaint from Ndubuisi Udokoro's family members about his arrest at Asaba, Delta State where he resides and his detention at SARS Awkuzu for an undisclosed offence. They informed NOPRIN that since he was arrested over 2 weeks ago and detained, they (his family members) and lawyers have paid several visits to SARS Awkuzu to see him and hear from him; but the officials at SARS have continuously refused to disclose his offence or allow them see him. The detaining authorities have also denied him the chance to defend himself in court.
NOPRIN inquired from the O/C SARS, the Anambra State Police PRO, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka and the CP Anambra about the reason for Ndubuisi's arrest and detention, his condition and status of the case, but got no response.
Suddenly he was paraded along with 16 others before the media after more than 2 weeks in incommunicado detention and his name published- among the others- as a kidnapper. The police 'tried and convicted' him before the media based only on their (police's) claims that he is a kidnapper and without his being so pronounced by any court of law following a judicial trial.
Parading criminal suspects is usually a prelude to extrajudicial execution. This practice has been widely condemned as illegal and prejudicial to fair trial. His family say they are shocked at the allegation that their son is a kidnapper. ....
NOPRIN has intervened in many cases in recent times where people arrested and paraded by SARS Awkuzu for various offences from kidnapping, ritual murder to armed robbery later turned out to be innocent people framed up for various sinister motives.
Thus, we are always skeptical when SARS arrests and parades any person as a criminal without any credible and verifiable evidence. There is everything wrong with the procedure adopted by Awkuzu SARS, Anambra State in their 'anti crime' operations. They arrest people over one alleged crime or the other; they detain them incommunicado and torture them to 'confess'. Sometimes, they also parade them. They deny their families and even their lawyers access to them and never give them the chance to be heard in court for their guilt or innocence to be determined in accordance with due process. The case of Bona Mokwe and many others investigated by NOPRIN recently underscore the need to be skeptical and to urgently demand proper investigation whenever SARS accuses any person of 'kidnapping', 'armed robbery' or other heinous crimes and parades such a person before the media.
The Police in Anambra often refer to a certain law passed by the Anambra State House of Assembly which authorises the police to 'deal summarily' with anyone 'involved' in kidnapping.
This law undermines the rule of law, subverts the constitution and erodes the fundamental rights of citizens in Anambra state.
Respect for human dignity and due process guarantees including presumption of innocence until guilt is established through a fair trial are flagrantly discarded.
The police, relying on this law, have often assumed the multiple roles of the accuser, the investigator, the judge and the executioner, all at once. In many instances, they have relied on this law to demolish properties of people who turned out to be innocent. They indefinitely detain, torture and sometimes murder innocent people.
In order not to continue to endanger public safety and trample on citizens' rights to liberty, human dignity and life, the police in Anambra State, particularly, SARS must be compelled by police and oversight authorities to always follow due process and respect the rule of law by ensuring proper and impartial investigation and allowing due legal proceedings to prove any allegation of crime to be true or false. The police in Anambra should stop the practice of going outside the law to 'fight crime'. They must put an end to torture, extrajudicial killings and all sorts of 'jungle justice'.
NOPRIN calls on the Inspector General of Police to direct the police authorities in Anambra state to always ensure proper and impartial investigation of allegations of crime and that any person accused of kidnapping, armed robbery or any criminal offence is charged to court so that the court, not the police, may find the accused guilty and impose appropriate sanctions.
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