Re - Kidnapping: Stop Arbitrary Arrest and Detention of Suspects

Source: huhuonline.com

Sir,   After reading the short piece on page 18 of The Nation newspaper of February 11, 2011 and on the editorial page of The Guardian of February 14, 2011, on the above subject  matter by one Mr. Leo Igwe, I shed tears. The inhuman treatment meted out to those (many of who surely are innocent) suspects in the detention camp of Akwa Ibom Police command could not be described. I shed tears because I had a cousin who also experienced similar situation for upward of two months in the same Ikot Akpan Abia Police detention camp only to be let off the hook. God just intervened but in a civilized society we should have been compensated.  

  The case that involved my cousin was one in which the Police while trying to cover their inefficiency, stumped a place and arrested people including my cousin, claiming that they were involved in one of the kidnap cases. After a gruesome two months detention, few of them were released; whereas they were earlier paraded as perpetrated of kidnap crime. The former Police Commissioner in Akwa Ibom, Mr. Walter Rugbere, terrorized Akwa Ibom people wrongly (non-indigene residents inclusive). At one time, it was alleged that Rugbere had hand in the escape of some genuine criminals detained at the camp sometime last year.   Mr. Rugbere should be investigated though he is out of the place and probably from Police, but evil that men do must live with and after them.   What baffles one was the seeming nonchalant attitude of Akwa Ibom government to complain against Rugbere indicating that he may have been doing their biddings.      

  My strong suggestion to the present Inspector General of Police, if he really wants to be respected as someone who came to work, is that he should pay an URGENT visit to that Police detention camp in Akwa Ibom. It is inhumanly handled and if that is what is obtained in other Police commands, the; the authorities have a lot on their hand to clear because innocent citizens are being detained while the security authorities cover their bad tracks in their policing the nation. They have been inefficient and unprofessional.   Mr. Kingsley Ikpe Udoh,   Plot 213 Goldie Street,   Calabar