Human Rights Writers Association Of Nigeria (HURIWA) has approached the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Usman Alkali Baba to directly take charge of the investigation of the circumstances surrounding the unexplained death of the wife of the now suspended Chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State.
HURIWA said it was approaching the IGP following the possibility that the Anambra State command of the Nigeria Police Force may compromise the required professional and efficient investigation of the case which has now become a national affair just as the rights group disclosed that it no personal interest in the matter other than their concern that if not professionally handled, the issue and circumstances surrounding the suspicious killing of this lady may never be known given that the police on many occasions muddied up such investigations on a platter of alleged bribes.
HURIWA in the letter stated as follows:
15th August 2022
The Inspector-General of Police
Usman Alkali Baba
Nigeria Police Force Headquarters,
Louis Edet House, Shehu Shagari Way,
Area 11, Garki,
Abuja, Nigeria.
Dear Sir,
ON THE ALLEGED DOMESTIC VIOLENCE RELATED KILLING: OUR CALL FOR PROBE:
We write to you Sir, on the strength of trending story of a man (Mbazulike Iloka) who was recently slammed with an indefinite suspension from his position as administrator of Nnewi North L.G.A in Anambra State by the governor of Anambra State Professor Charles Chukwuma Soludo on the suspicion that the sudden unexplained death of his wife needed to be investigated.
Dear Sir, below is an excerpt of our media release published on this matter:-
Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, on Friday, charged the Police authority in Anambra State to arrest the suspended Transition Committee Chairman of Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Mbazulike Iloka, for allegedly beating his wife to death.
The group said the state government must ensure the immediate arrest and prosecution of the LG boss.
THE WHISTLER reports that Mbazulike Iloka had since been suspended by the Anambra State Government to allow unfettered investigation.
The deceased, Chidiebere, reportedly slumped and died on the fateful day after serving her husband food, our correspondent gathered.
His culpability over the death of his wife is not unconnected with his routine beating of his wife before her death, a resident of the area told our correspondent.
Police sources said they had commenced investigations into the matter.
The directive for Iloka’s probe by Governor Charles Soludo was contained in a statement signed by Mr Tonycollins Nwabunwanne, commissioner, local government, chieftaincy and community affairs, Anambra State.
Onwubiko said, “The suspension of Mbazulike Iloka by the state government is not enough. Governor Chukwuma Soludo must order the immediate arrest, investigation and prosecution of this suspected killer. Anything short of this is leniency taken too far.
“Anambra is notorious for domestic and gender-based violence in homes, churches, offices, markets, motor parks, and even in commercial buses. The governor must send a strong warning to the aggressors by publicly shaming the LG boss within the ambit of the law. An autopsy must be carried out immediately and the outcome must not be compromised. There must be no cover-ups.
“Recall that another South-Easterner from Imo State, and popular gospel singer, Osinachi Nwachukwu, died controversially early 2022 after her husband, Peter Nwachukwu, allegedly battered her, going by the testimonies of the victim’s sisters and children. Just as Peter is currently being prosecuted, Iloka must be tried to serve as strong deterrence to other wife-batterers.
“Anambra must also go beyond domesticating the VAPPA Act to enforcing it and prosecuting offenders in tandem with its components. Anambra must contribute a quota in reducing national statistics of sexual and gender-based violence cases which the National Human Rights Commission put at 1.7 million in 2021 alone whilst many cases have gone unreported, he concluded.”
Prayer
Sir, our prayer as concerned human rights monitors is that having realized that you have a very credible Gender offences Unit under your office in Abuja, that you direct the Anambra command of the police to transfer the investigation of this matter if any is ongoing, to your desk for a much more efficient and professional investigation and further action.
It is also our prayer that if need be, then you take measures such as lawful arrest of the alleged domestic violence offender pending conclusion of a transparent investigation and if found guilty then you prosecute without waste of time.
We are happy to observe that “under newly passed and signed Police Act 2020 a revelation that the ambit of the Force operations has been broadened to facilitate the achievement of its general objective which is to provide an effective police service that complies with the principles of accountability, transparency, protection of human rights and freedom. Section 4 of the Act is replete with extensive functions of the Force, notably, imposing an obligation on the police to protect the rights and freedom of every Nigerian in accordance with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights, and other applicable laws,” as noted by a legal expert.
Lastly, we wish to state that we have no personal interest in this matter other than to call your kind attention to personally oversee the investigation of this matter so as to gain visibility and credible mileage for your good offices. We believe in your capacity to determine what is good for the cause of justice in this instance. But it will be appreciated if your good offices act swiftly on this information and send to us your reply soonest.
HURIWA’S OBJECTIVE ARE;
- To deploy the members’ creative talents as writers to promote, protect and project the human rights of all Nigerians and other law abiding citizen’s resident within Nigeria;
- To organize periodic seminars and training workshops locally for human capital development specifically on the tenets and ideals of Human Rights and the rule of Law;
- To attend international workshops and seminars targeted at the promotion and protection of human rights;
- To conduct periodic studies on ways, means strategies for promoting and protecting human rights of law abiding citizens;
- To highlight human rights challenges confronting the persons in conflict with the law and seek for constructive modalities for redressing such violations; and
- To recognize excellence and good governance standards in the polity through yearly award ceremonies for exceptionally good, tested and trusted leaders in both the corporate and public sectors. The process of selection would be transparent mass participation strategies.
Yours Faithfully,
Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko
National Coordinator
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