The Anambra State task force officials tasked with putting a stop to touts’ operations tortured a middle-aged man, according to the human rights organization Global Society for Anti-Corruption (GSAC).
It was reported that the middle-aged man collected money but did not provide it to the government.
Following the indignation caused by a viral video exposing the torture, GSAC condemned the act.
In the video, the man was made to sit on the ground while the officials continuously struck his ankles, chest, and shoulders with a pestle and other things, despite his cries for mercy.
The action was called “barbaric, primitive, and the height of lawlessness” by Frank Ezeona, President of GSAC.
He demanded that Governor Charles Soludo curb the actions of task force members employed by his administration and end the ongoing abuse and intimidation of locals in the name of bringing in money for the state.
He said: “We want to say that Nigeria has, since, left this kind of jungle justice, where perpetrators of crimes and violators of the law are tried without being handed over to the appropriate agency of government set up by law.
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“Assuming, without conceding that the young man was guilty as charged, was it right for these anti-touting officials to use a pestle and other objects they could lay hands on to dismember parts of his body? The law has prescribed appropriate sanctions against any offender, and no human is above the law. Section 36 (5) of the 1999 constitution recognised the fact of presumption of innocence until proven guilty and every public official, including governors, swore to protect and enforce it.
“”This is not the first time members of a government-established task force will be manhandling hapless residents in the name of enforcing revenue generation and order in the state.”
Ezeona noted: “Countless times, business owners and occupants of residences are forcibly arrested commando style, beaten and detained in unhygienic facilities without trial in court or being handed over to the police for prosecution.”
Many have been made to pay various amounts of money to obtain their freedom from the hands of these officials.
“As much as we will not indulge in actions that could undermine good governance in Anambra State, we wish to call on the governor to, once again, look into the activities of members of the task force, with a view to ascertaining if they still operate within the confines of the law.
“He should also order an immediate investigation into the current video of jungle justice, with a view to arresting the trend, as well as bringing its perpetrators to book. This level of barbarism and primitive action against helpless residents of Anambra State must stop forthwith. It is time to engage residents with civility.”
