PRESS STATEMENT BY EDO STATE CIVIL SOCIETY COALITION FOR HUMAN RIGHTS.
Calling for the immediate and unconditional release of Hon. Collins Aigbogun from Police custody as he didn’t commit any crime known to law.
The Edo State Civil Society Coalition For Human Rights vehemently and passionately condemn in totality the unjust, biased and fascistic arrest and detention of Hon. Collins Aigbogun by the Nigerian Police, purportedly due to his alleged and imaginary sponsorship of the protest against the escalating scourge of kidnapping and banditry in Esan West Local Government Area of Edo State.
Hon. Collins Aigbogun is one of the people arrested in Ekpoma in connection with the anti- Kidnapping protest. Even though others who were also arrested during the midnight raid of private hostels of Ambrose Alli University Students had been released by the Governor. It is morally reprehensible that Hon. Collins Aigbogun is still suffocating in the odoriferous cell of the police.
It must be noted that Senator Monday Okpebholo had previously stated pronto that the Ekpoma protest was vigorously sponsored by an unnamed Russian based Nigerian and some Edo People living abroad. It is very worrisome, sardonic and melancholic that Hon. Collins Aigbogun is still kept incommunicado by the Police on the order of Senator Monday Okpebholo, contrary to the rule of law and constitutional provision.
It is very obvious that somebody is spreading false propaganda against the suspect which made the Governor to maliciously clamp down on him.
Hon. Collins Aigbogun is not based in Russia. As at the time of his arrest, he was the Special Assistant on Youth Mobilization to the Governor. As the legal maxim goes” Res ipsa loquitur” which means the fact speaks for itself.
How can the man be in Russia and Nigeria simultaneously? Let the fact speaks for itself.
According to Section 36 (12) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended a person shall not be convicted of any offence unless the offence is defined and the penalty is therefore prescribed in a written law.
Till date, the police have not been able to obviously furnish and adduce evidence linking him with the protest.
As Frantz Fanon, An African Philosopher stated ” History will not forgive those who have the exceptional privilege of speaking the words of truth but decided to take refuge in an attitude of captivity, mute indifference and sometimes cold complicity”
Citizens who mobilise against systemic injustice are fulfilling an ethical imperative, demanding accountability and the protection of fundamental rights.
This administration should not bury fear in the minds of the people due to unnecessary arrest and detention by the police.
It was Thomas Jefferson that stated ” When the people fear the government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty”
The continued detention of Mr. Collins Aigbogun, predicated solely on alleged sponsorship of a protest , is not only antithetical to constitutional safeguards but risks engendering perceptions of political persecution, thereby eroding public confidence in law enforcement institutions and democratic governance.
It is profoundly disconcerting that while criminal networks operate with apparent impunity, citizens exercising their constitutional rights are subjected to detention and intimidation. This raises a salient question: should security agencies expend their energies in suppressing lawful civic engagement, or in dismantling the criminal apparatuses imperiling innocent lives?
The Coalition wishes to use this medium to appeal to Governor Monday Okpebholo to order the immediate and unconditional release of Hon. Collins Aigbogun from police detention in the interest of justice and equity as the saying goes “it is better a hundred guilty persons should escape than that one innocent person should suffer,”
The Nigerian Police Force should operate in strict conformity with constitutional mandates, judicial precedent, and the principles of justice. Authorities are urged to align themselves with the populace in confronting insecurity, rather than penalising an innocent man.
The Edo State Civil Society Coalition on Human Rights remains unwavering in its commitment to safeguarding civic space, defending human rights, and holding state institutions accountable until justice, security, and human dignity are universally guaranteed.
Signed: Marxist Kola Edokpayi
Coordinator General
Edo State Civil Society Coalition for Human Rights
Comr. Hon. Aghatise Raphael
Secretary General
Edo State Civil Society Coalition for Human Rights
