The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has carpeted the Police for violation of the constitutional rights of some detainees arbitrarily arrested and thrown into cells without trial in competent court of law.

The rights group specifically challenged the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution or the Lagos State Police Command to either charge the popular musician, Naira Marley, to court if he has any case to answer regarding the sudden demise of Mohbad or free him unconditionally.

The group said that law enforcement authorities must base their actions on facts and the positions of Nigerian laws, not on gossip.

It accused the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) of having the penchant to pick up Nigerians and throw them into their detention facilities indefinitely with no regards to the provisions of the Nigerian Constitution of 1999, as amended.

HURIWA which says it was deeply concerned about how Naira Marley was going through what it described as “unlawful ordeals” in the hands of the Lagos State Police Command, urged the Police authority and the relevant prosecutorial authority to either charge the musician to court or free him immediately rather than detain him arbitrarily and indefinitely.

HURIWA noted that the 1999 Nigerian constitution clearly states that persons arrested or detained shall be brought before a court within a “reasonable time”.

“This implies that the detention of arrested suspects for more than 48 hours without being charged to court is against the provisions of the constitution and Section 61 (1) of the Nigeria Police Act 2020 agrees with the provisions of the constitution which says that a suspect arrested without a court warrant, other than a capital offence, should be granted bail, where it is impracticable to charge to court within 24 hours.”

HURIWA therefore endorsed the position of Miss. Shubomi, the sister of embattled Naira Marley, who has expressed outrage over her brother’s detention, describing it as a human rights violation.

HURIWA recalled that the Magistrate Court sitting in the Yaba area of Lagos State ordered that Sam Larry and Naira Marley be remanded in custody earlier this month while they continue the probe into the circumstances surrounding Mohbad’s death. This came after a lot of Nigerians actively pursued justice for the late Mohbad, following the singer’s death under controversial circumstances and several accusations leveled against his former boss, Naira Marley, for bullying him repeatedly.

Shubomi said that “keeping someone who willingly traveled back to help in detention for nearly 30 days, with no charge, no evidence, no sufficient witness is a violation of his human rights. Keeping him in custody to appease social media and the internet mob is crazy.”

“If you have evidence against him for anything he’s been accused of, charge him! But if you don’t, release him. It shouldn’t take this long for the investigation to be done.”

HURIWA Condemns what it called “a growing penchant since President Bola Ahmed Tinubu assumed office for security agencies to behave as if the Country is under a military dictatorship by arresting and clamping Nigerians arbitrarily into detention centres without charge.”

The group maintained such detention amounted to gross abuse of the Constitution, the bedrock of constitutional freedoms and democracy.

HURIWA therefore called on security agencies to respect the constitutional freedoms of Nigerians since the country is under a civilian government.

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