Civil society groups urge Imo governor to set up Mobile Courts to try COVID-19 lockdown violators

By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor

A coalition of Nigerian public interest organizations under the auspices of the Action Group on Free Civic Space, has said that the absence of mobile court  in Imo State to try violators of the Imo State Executive Order 001 on COVID-19 lockdown has resulted in abuse of citizens rights.

In a statement jointly signed by leaders of the coalition including  Victoria Ibezim-Ohaeri, Benson Olugbuo, Okechukwu Nwanguma, Martins Besong, Oche Tony Onazi and  Emmanuel Ikule called on Governor Hope Uzodinma to set up the Mobile Courts immediately in order to address these violations.  

Lockdown directives issued by the federal and state governments in Nigeria have resulted in spikes in human rights abuses, including brutal killings of citizens, across the country.

The documentation of coronavirus-linked violations published on Closing Spaces Database, a digital database that tracks incidents of shrinking civic space in Nigeria and West Africa, reveals over 22 deaths caused by security operatives enforcing the lockdown in Delta, Abia, Anambra, Kaduna and Cross Rivers States. 

The Action Group had on April 11, launched Legal Helplines (08145000093 & 07039855775), and constituted a legal team comprising lawyers in different parts of the country that provide free legal services to persons whose rights are violated as a result of the COVID-19 lockdown measures in Nigeria.

Since the Legal Helplines were launched, the majority of complaints received have come from the South Eastern part of the country, with Imo State having the largest share. 

The Action Group’s independent investigations revealed that scores of citizens are arrested on a daily basis by state security agents in Imo State, especially the Nigeria Police.

The statement said arrested persons often include those looking for food, or on the way to the hospital and or looking for basic necessaries that humans depend on for survival.

“Reports received further reveal that arrested persons are usually detained beyond the constitutional limits of 48 hours without any formal charge. Some of them told the Action Group that state agents allegedly demanded N50,000 bribe before they can be released. 

“In order to understand why detained persons are never charged in accordance with the Imo State Executive Order 001 on COVID-19 Lockdown and Curfew, the Action Group discovered that Mobile Courts were either not set up or that the Mobile Courts have never sat to try curfew and lockdown violations, resulting in the police exercising discretion in ways that hurt civil liberties and shrink the civic space in Imo State, ” the statement said.

The Action Group legal team therefore calls on Imo State Governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma and Imo State Attorney General, to immediately begin the process of using mobile courts to address violations of Imo’s COVID-19 Executive Order.

“ A community service of 7 days (Clause 5 of the Order) is the punishment imposed for these violations. Without setting up or operationalizing the Mobile Courts, state security agents and other unlawful persons may continue to exploit the opportunity to make money out of innocent citizens.