Imo Security Agents Allegedly Using COVID-19 Lockdown To Make Money., Group Urges Imo Govt To Set Up Mobile Courts Now!,

A coalition of Nigerian public interest organizations, under the auspices of the Action Group on Free Civic Space, are calling on Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma, to set up Mobile Courts immediately, in order to address violations of Imo State Executive Order 001 on COVID-19 Lockdown and Curfew signed into law on April 17, 2020.

In a statement made available to TheNigeriaLawyer (TNL), the group further alleged extortion of money from the detainees by the Police.

Lockdown directives issued by the federal and state governments in Nigeria have resulted in spikes in human rights abuses, including brutal killings of citizens, across the country. The documentation of coronavirus-linked violations published on Closing Spaces Database, a digital database that tracks incidents of shrinking civic space in Nigeria and West Africa, reveals over 22 deaths caused by security operatives enforcing the lockdown in Delta, Abia, Anambra, Kaduna, and Cross Rivers States.

The Action Group had on April 11, launched Legal Helplines (08145000093 & 07039855775), and constituted a legal team comprising lawyers in different parts of the country that provide free legal services to persons whose rights are violated as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown measures in Nigeria.

Since the Legal Helplines were launched, the majority of complaints received have come from the South Eastern part of the country, with Imo State having the largest share.

The Action Group’s independent investigations revealed that scores of citizens are arrested on a daily basis by state security agents in Imo State, especially the Nigeria Police. Arrested persons often include those looking for food, or on the way to the hospital and or looking for basic necessaries that humans depend on for survival. Reports received further reveal that arrested persons are usually detained beyond the constitutional limits of 48 hours without any formal charge. Some of them told the Action Group that state agents allegedly demanded N50,000 bribe before they can be released.

In order to understand why detained persons are never charged in accordance with the Imo State Executive Order 001 on COVID-19 Lockdown and Curfew, the Action Group discovered that Mobile Courts were either not set up or that the Mobile Courts have never sat to try curfew and lockdown violations, resulting in the police exercising discretion in ways that hurt civil liberties and shrink the civic space in Imo State.

The Action Group legal team therefore calls on Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma and Imo State Attorney General, to immediately begin the process of using mobile courts to address violations of COVID19 lockdown and curfew violations. A community service of 7 days (Clause 5) is the punishment imposed for these violations. Without setting up or operationalizing the Mobile Courts, state security agents and other unlawful persons may continue to exploit the opportunity to make money out of innocent citizens.