PSC chair seeks more attention for crime victims, condemns parade of suspects in chains

Hashimu Argungu, chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), has condemned the practice of parading suspects in chains.

In a statement on Tuesday, Ikechukwu Ani, spokesperson of the PSC, said Argungu spoke during a visit to Tony Ojukwu, the executive secretary of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Abuja.

Ani said the PSC chairman also expressed concerns about the neglect of crime victims by law enforcement agencies, describing it as a mockery of Nigeria’s criminal justice system.

He called for a balancing of the justice system, which will give attention to victims of crime, adding that some of the Nigerian laws are obsolete and need to be reviewed.

The PSC chairman said extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests, searching and detention, and sexual abuses are some of the issues undermining the nation’s human rights record.

He urged the commission to find a way to mitigate or eliminate the issues and commended the partnership between PSC and the NHRC.

He added that the PSC would henceforth involve the commission in its recruitment processes.

On his part, Ojukwu told the PSC chairman that the commission is building a digitalised platform for the processing of human rights cases.

Ojukwu said the platform would be linked to the PSC to ensure that the two agencies would, in partnership, take the war against abuses to the next level.

He said the nation would not continue to watch the abuse of the rights of citizens.