- Commends Army for prompt identification of torture culprit
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), yesterday, in Abuja said it would prosecute the Vice Chancellor (VC) of Madonna University and two other senior officials of the school in relation to a case where some of the university’s students were tortured on suspicion of being members of a cult groups.
NHRC’s Executive Secretary, Professor Bem Angwe, said his Commission would be compelled to prosecute the school’s officials should they fail to honour a fresh invitation to them to appear for questioning.
The Commission had on August 10 invited the school’s officials and authorities of the Nigerian Army over two separate incidents of torture.
While the Army authorities were invited over the inhuman treatment meted out to a civilian in Nyanaya, Abuja, recently by a soldier, and requested that the culprit be identified, the university officials were invited over the torture of two students, Stanley Okoye, a 23-year old final year Civil Engineering student and Ga-Lim Aondofa Lord.
Angwe, who spoke in Abuja after receiving a team from the Nigerian Army, said the Vice Chancellor of the Madonna University had refused to appear on the excuse that the matter was in Court and that the commission should allow the Court to handle it.
He said, though the Commission had issued the VC and his officials fresh invitation to appear on August 25, the Commission believed the university authorities were acting without sufficient appreciation of the powers of the Commission by thinking they could ignore its invitation.
“The victims and their parents were here yesterday, but the Vice Chancellor and the two other officials did not come. We also received a letter from the Vice Chancellor of the Madonna University, who said the matter is in Court and that for that reason, he is of the opinion that the Human Commission should allow the Court determine the case.
“We are not satisfied with that. It is not for the Vice Chancellor to sit there in his office and write us a letter that the matter is in Court. They (the VC and two other senior officials of the university) need to appear.
“We have given them a new date to appear hear on the 25th of this month. and if by that date the Vice Chancellor and two other officials of the university are not hear, we are going to commence their prosecution immediately.
“The Vice Chancellor acted in ignorance by not understanding that he is supposed to appear, and that if he has a defence, or the matter is in Court, he should show us certified true copies of the processes in relation to the matter in Court. It is for us to determine whether the subject matter is the same with what we want to deal with.
“If he does not appear on August 25, we will prosecute him for failing to obey a lawful directive issued by this Commission. There are two options left for us if a person refuses to honour our invitation.
“First, the failure to appear before the commission, when invited, is an offence in itself. It carries a penalty of six months imprisonment. After serving the punishment, we can still issue a bench warrant to compel the person’s presence here.
“We are not wasting time on issuing bench warrant. We will punish such a person first, for the offence of not obeying the lawful directive of the Commission that he appears in respect of the complaint of right abuse against his organisation,” Angwe said.
He commended the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) for the steps so far taken in the Nyanya case by the Nigerian Army.
“We are satisfied with the way the authorities of the Nigerian Army has handled the case so far.
“As soon as we communicated with the Chief of Army Staff and gave the Nigerian Army 72 hours within which to identify the soldiers involved in this conduct, the COAS, within two hours, communicated with us to say they have indeed, found the culprit.
“That quick response was pleasing to us. Secondly, today, the COAS has sent a team of senior officers led by a General. They also brought the culprit, who is attached to the Guards Brigade. They are currently subject,” Angwe said.
The NHRC boss, who was silent on the actual identity of the soldier on the ground that the case was still being investigated, only disclosed that the soldier is attached to the Guards Brigade.
He said the Army’s account of the Nyanyan incident was that the civilian was caught by a mob while robbing and that the soldier intervened with the purpose of saving the life of the victim (the alleged robber).
“They said if the soldier did not intervene, the mob would have killed him.
“They said if the soldier did not intervene, the mob would have killed him.
But, we have invited the victim, who will appear before us tomorrow. This will enable use verify the story of the Army,” Angwe said.
Director of Legal, Nigerian Army, Brigadier General Yusuf Shalangwa, who led the Army team, confirmed that the soldier involved in the incident has been identified and was currently being subjected to internal disciplinary measures.
Shalangwa said the NHRC will be informed about the outcome of its investigation and all other steps the Nigerian Army decides to take in the case.
Shalangwa said the NHRC will be informed about the outcome of its investigation and all other steps the Nigerian Army decides to take in the case.