NSCDC, Police Altercation: Osun CDHR condemns police highhandedness, calls for thorough investigation

The Osun State Chapter Committee for the Defence of Human Rights, CDHR, has condemned the alleged unprovoked attack by personnel of the Nigeria Police against personnel of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps in Osogbo.

A clash occurred between personnel of both security agencies on Tuesday, October 22 and Wednesday, October 23 at Elizabeth Estate, Osogbo.

As a result of the clash and subsequent arrest and detention of the NSCDC personnel by the Osun State Police Command, the State Commandant, Michael Adaralewa insisted on a thorough investigation into the matter to bring those found culpable to book.

A statement by Adeleke Kehinde, the Osun NSCDC Command revealed that the police operatives from Oyo had stormed the Estate which was secured by the NSCDC personnel to arrest some suspected criminals before they were assaulted.

The Osun State Police Command on the other hand speaking through its spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola said the police personnel were from the Oyo State Police Command and were on a mission to arrest a suspected criminal.

Opalola said the NSCDC personnel prevented them from arresting the criminal and in the process, beat up and injured two police officers and deflated the tires of their vehicle.

She, however, revealed that an investigation was ongoing to unravel the matter.

The Osun CDHR in a statement by its Chairman, Emmanuel Olowu on Saturday expressed concern over the incident, saying, “After carefully reviewing the press statements delivered by both organisations involved, it has become evident that the police have assumed a stance of supremacy over the NSCDC, undermining the rights and dignity of fellow law enforcement officers. To us, this attitude of the set of police officers threatens the integrity of the Nigeria Police force and poses a grave risk to the lives of ordinary Nigerians.

“If a security personnel can be assaulted in such a manner in broad daylight a civilian will be killed and thrown into the sea.”

He also said, “The issue of police brutality, assault, and illegal detention persisted for seventeen (17) years in Nigeria between the years 2000 and 2017. The campaign to end the operation of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) lasted for three (3) good years of social media campaigns between 2017 and 2020 which culminated in the tragic events of 20th of October 2020 at Lekki, Lagos State.

“We should not forget so soon that the police’s unethical and unprofessional practices led to the protest which eventually took many lives, destroyed properties across the country, and subjected the Nigeria government to wasting its resources to mitigate the effect of the protest caused by the long time police brutality in Nigeria.

“Four years after the EndSARS protest, the Nigerian government has not implemented the recommendation of the EndSARS Judicial Panel held across the country, which was a reason that the police, on the 23rd of October 2024, brutalised NSCDC officers at Elizabeth Estate, Osogbo, Osun State. It is alarming to note that, despite existing regulations prohibiting the use of private vehicles for official police operations and mandating professional conduct within the police, we still witness a blatant disregard for the rule of law. The recent actions of the police, including their unprofessional appearance—evidenced by officers wearing jackets over “ANKARA” cloth—reflect a troubling backwardness that should warrant the attention of civil society across Nigeria because if we do not check the police now, it might be our turn tomorrow.

“To us in the CDHR the conduct displayed during the assault on the NSCDC personnel is unacceptable and we will not relent until justice is served because the viral video reported that the officer’s uniform was torn, he was brutally assaulted beyond description, disarmed, handcuffed like a common criminal, before he was forcefully whisked away to the Ataoja Division and later moved to the Police State Headquarters and kept in detention from 23rd of October 2024 to 25th of October 2024 despite the intervention of the NSCDC team of senior officers.

“We, in Osun CDHR, were shocked at the narration of the NSCDC that the police requested that if they could identify the officer, they would release him, however after the identification, the police failed to release him, kept him in detention without treatment, to us such actions can’t and should not be justified under any circumstances.

“It is like a shock to us that in this 21st century, police still go around to arrests without proper identification or presentation of search warrants. If the police can intimidate and harass NSCDC personnel and subject them to unlawful detention under the watch of a Commissioner of Police of a state, despite the intervention of the NSCDC team of senior officers, then the common man and his family could be slaughtered, tortured, and electrocuted among other grievous form of torture.”

Olowu while calling for the immediate intervention of the Police Service Commission to investigate the unethical practices of the men of the Nigeria Police also called on all stakeholders in the Nigeria security system, Civil Society Organizations, and Non-Governmental Organisations to jointly pressurise the Police Service Commission to embark on a thorough investigation into this matter.

He also called for the perpetrators of the act to be held accountable.