Stakeholders at the Northeast Forum of African Law Foundation, AfriLaw, on Private Security Governance, PSG, has warned non-state security guards against torture, illegal arrest and detention of unsuspecting members of the public.
Stakeholders drop the warning at the AfriLaw’s Northeast Private Security Governance Forum session on Thursday.
The Stakeholders resolved that private security outfit is not empowered by law to unnecessarily subject people to torture even when they are being handle as suspects for a crime.
Mrs Yahchit Suzan Dala, Coordinator of the Bauchi State Office of the National Human Rights Commission in a goodwill message at the forum said all registered private security firms ought to respect the sanctity of the provisions of the basic fundamental human rights of Nigerians as provided for in the 1999 Constitution.
“All arrests should be within the confines of the law and human rights, to avoid increasing the rates of human rights abuses members of the public suffer from, as both state and non-state security apparatus in the country usually do,” the Coordinator said.
Mrs Dala said that private security outlets must respect the rule of law and established human rights of Nigerians to enable them to douse the negative public image they erroneously earned for themselves.
Mrs Dala said the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria have empowered private security outlets to make arrests saying “they must do it in line with the provisions of the law and respect human rights and they don’t have powers to do certain things.”
She said that the National Human Rights Commission, Bauchi office has engaged the Police and Nigeria Civil Defense Corps on the need for them to respect human rights of Nigerians at the course of discharging their constitutional mandate.
Barrister Abubakar Abdulhamid, Chairman Nigeria Bar Association Bauchi State Chapter, encouraged private security operatives to ensure they hand over arrested suspects to the Police or Civil Defence Corps for proper investigation and possible arraignment before courts of law.
The Chairman emphasised the need for synergy between state owned security and private security agencies to ensure holistic security of lives and property of people in the northeast and Nigeria as a whole.
Bauchi State Police Commissioner who was represented by ACP Paul Dung lamented that the private security guards torture more than the police.
On his part, Barrister Okereke Chinwike, the Chief Executive Officer of AfriLaw, said authorities in the country did little to promote private security operations in Nigeria, hence the need for an advocacy effort from the organised private sector to engage both the state and registered private security companies.
Barrister Chinweke said the forum was convened to streamline efforts to create an enabling working environment for private security sectors duly registered in Nigeria by relevant regulatory bodies in partnership with Geneva Center for Security Sector Governance.
The forum draws participants from the Nigeria Police Force, Civil Defence, National Human Right, civil society organisations, private security companies and media.
The forum themed ‘Raising Awareness and Discussion on Challenges and opportunities Presented by the Private Sector as well as Ways to Strengthen its Governance in a multistakeholder Approach in Nigeria’ drew contributions from many participants.
