Members of the federal House of Representatives on Tuesday unanimously resolved to investigate the arrest of 320 people allegedly linked with the Boko Haram Islamist sect in River State.
To this extent, the House mandated its Joint Committee on Police and Human Rights to investigate the activities of the Police.
Deputy Minority Leader of the House, Suleiman Abdularahman Kawu who sponsored the motion, argued that the arrest on 26th January 2014 triggered serious tension across the country.
Kawu maintained that “such manner of arrests and injustice portrays obvious danger capable of breeding political instability to the already overheated polity as the suspects were known to be law abiding citizens”, adding that “the arrest of the 320 men and women has raised several issues that require immediate attention of every well-meaning Nigerians for the security, economy and political wellbeing of the country and its citizens”.
The lawmaker stressed that “the arrested persons were in Rivers for legitimate business, as most of them were petty traders and menial job seekers in search for means of livelihood in their fatherland”.
He maintained that the arrest contradicts the provisions of Section 41 of the 1999 constitution (as amended), which guarantees that every citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely across the country.
“If no urgent step is taken, such arrests by Rivers state police command may bring about political instability, insecurity, and may as well lead to breakdown of law and order, thereby posing threat to the very existence of the country as a whole”, he warned
