…my statement taken out of context, says PPRO
Femi Falana, Human rights lawyer and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) has condemned the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi over comment that Nigerians should not retaliate to assault by police officers.
Adejobi had stated this on his Twitter page on Saturday.
He tweeted that “if a policeman in uniform slaps a civilian, the civilian has no right to retaliate. More so, if he’s on the uniform, it’s an act of disrespect to Nigeria to beat an officer on a uniform.
“The disrespect is not to the policeman but to our nation and it’s a crime as enshrined in our criminal laws.”
Reacting to Adejobi’s tweet, Falana stated that “every Nigerian is entitled to the fundamental right and no citizen shall be subjected to any physical or psychological torture.”
“From subjecting Nigerian people including criminal suspects to degrading, humiliating or inhumane treatment.
“By virtue of section 34 of the Nigerian Constitution, every citizen is entitled to the fundamental right to the dignity of their person. Accordingly, no citizen shall be subjected to any mental, physical or psychological torture.
“In section (2)(b) of the Anti-Torture Act, 2017 states that torture is deemed committed when an act by which pain and suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person to punish him for an act he or a third person has committed or suspected of having committed.
“The penalty for assaulting a civilian is 25 years under the Anti Torture Act of 2017. In addition, the victim may sue for monetary compensation under the Anti Torture Act and the Constitution.
“Civilians are required to respect police officers who are discharging their lawful duties. The criminal code states that the penalty for assaulting or slapping a police officer is 3 years imprisonment. In the same vein, police officers are equally mandated to respect civilians,” Falana said.
Meanwhile, the Police Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi has said that his statement on citizens not retaliating an erring Police officer had been misrepresented in the media.
In a statement, Adejobi explained that his tweet was interpreted out of context by mischief makers as he only advised citizens to take to the right channels to report misdemeanors of any police officer.
Adejobi had reacted to a viral video of a man dragging a rifle with a policeman during a heated argument and suspicious molestation over his phone.
He condemned the action of the man as he took the laws into his hands when he could have filed a complaint and the necessary action would be taken to punish the erring officer.
Adejobi has, however, emphasized that the police is committed to protecting the rights of citizens uniformed or not, urging the public to disregard malicious publications that read otherwise.
“Where a public officer acts contrary to the provisions of extant laws, there are channels to report such conduct and get prompt justice, particularly in the Nigeria Police Force. In the extant case, the individuals resorted to self-help and assaulted the officers, attempted to snatch the officers’ firearm, and in so doing breached the law,” the statement reads.
“It is trite that two wrongs cannot make a right, as such whatever the provocation, the action of the individuals were wrong in all ramifications as they would have reported the matter for prompt action.
Emphasis on this has clearly been misrepresented across media platforms as a single tweet in a thread was mischievously read out of context with a mischievous caption ” No Nigerian Has the Right to Retaliate when Police Slaps You.
He urged the public to avoid taking laws into their hands when in an unpleasant situation with a police officer, noting the rights channels complaints can be made to in a bid to have their rights protected.
“The Force urges the Nigerian populace not to take laws into their hands whenever they have unpleasant encounters with police officers. Complaints arising from such encounters can be reported via the Police Public Relations Officers (PPROs) of the various Commands, the Complaint Response Unit (CRU) and via official Police accounts across social media platforms.
Similarly, the idea of pouncing on and beating up Law Enforcement Agents carrying out their public duty by members of the public whom they serve, is criminal and disrespectful to our beloved nation, Nigeria, and must not be allowed to exacerbate,” Adejobi said.
