—Say, they are notorious and Killer gangs
—Call for immediate removal of the Osun Police boss
A group of human rights activists under the aegis of Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEO) has written a petition to the Inspector General of Police (IGP),Mr. Solomon Arase to inform the police authority in the country about the nefarious activities of the illegal armed bandit, popularly known as, “State Boys”, over the recent disruption of the peaceful protest organized by the group against the anti-people policies of the State government , describing them as notorious and killer gangs of the Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola’s administration to deal with perceived members of the opposition in the State.
The rights activists also called for the immediate removal of the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abubarkar Maraafah for colluding with Mr. Rauf Aregbesola and his cronies to aiding and abetting the men of the “State Boys” led by “Austin and Lawrence Dada-a.k.a., D-Law” to be terrorizing the good people of the State, as widely reported in the media recently.
It however alleged Mr. Rauf Aregbesola led- Osun State government for training “Snipers” which refers to as “killer Squad” to deal with the members of the opposition in no distance time in the State, calling on the Inspector General of Police to set up an independent panel of enquiry to unravel the cause of disruption of the CSCEO’s July 7th, 2015 Peaceful Emancipation Rally.
This was contained in the Petition dated July 22nd ,2015 and signed by the group’s Chairman,Comrade Adeniyi,Alimi Sulaiman, entitled: “the petition against the use of ‘State Boys’ by Mr. Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, the governor of Osun State to harass and intimidate members of opposition, particularly, Civil Societies Coalition for the Emancipation of Osun State (CSCEO).We call for immediate action by the police authority under your watch and immediate call for removal of Osun State Commissioner of Police (Mr. Abubarkar Marafah)”,which was
forwarded to the Police boss in Abuja and made the copy available to newsmen in Osogbo, yesterday, maintained that the illegal bandits was against the provision of the Section 227 of the amended 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, prohibiting quasi-Military organizations.
The copy of the petition which also forwarded to the President Muhammadu Buhari, the two leaders of the National Assembly, Police Service Commission (PSC), National Human Rights
Commission(NHRC),Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch(HRW),among others, for their necessary actions on the development in the State.
The part of the Petition reads thus: “Though, we believe that your esteem self are conversant with the good provision of the Section 227 of the 1999 amended Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, prohibiting quasi-military organizations. However, for the avoidance
of doubt, we are re-proclaiming same here that “No association shall retain, organize, train or equip any person or group of persons for the purpose of enabling them to be employed for the use or display of physical force or coercion in promoting any political objective or interest or in such manner as to arouse reasonable apprehension that they are organized and trained or equipped for that purpose. “We want to also inform you that Mr. Rauf Aregbesola has been alleged some years back of recruiting some Islamic organization (Tawhum) men to be part of his security men as it Is against the stipulation of the Nigeria 1999 constitution which empowered the men of Nigeria Police Force and State Security Service(SSS).It is also come to our knowledge that Osun State government under the headship of Governor Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola is training ‘Snipers’ which referred to as ‘Killer Squads’ to deal with the members of the opposition in the State”.
The petition added that : ” We therefore call upon your good self to caution the State Commissioner of Police to refrain from being used by politicians to shield illegal and unlawful armed group (State Boys) to intimidate and harass the innocent citizens of the society in the
State and we also call for the immediate removal of the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abubarkar Maarafa who colluded with the politicians to aid and abetting the criminal group called “State Boys” led One “Austin and Lawrence Dada-aka, D LAW” to be terrorizing
the good people of the State as widely reported in the mass media.
We have lost confidence in the headship of present Osun State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Abubarkar Marafah over his role in shielding the unlawful terror gang called “State Boys” which will believe contravened the Section 40 of the amended 1999 constitution stipulated the right to peaceful assembly and association as follows:“Every person shall be entitled to assemble freely and associate with other persons, and in particular, he may form or belong to any political party, trade unions or any other association for the protection of his interest.
Sir, even section 41 of the said Constitution also gives right to freedom of movement to Nigeria citizens that “Every Citizen of Nigeria is entitled to move freely throughout Nigeria and reside in any part thereof , and no citizen of Nigeria shall be expelled from Nigeria or refused entry thereto or exit therefrom”.