HURIWA: Recent Incessant Inter-agency Clashes Bad for Democracy

Chuks Okocha in Abuja

Civil rights advocacy group, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has said that clashes among government agencies remain inimical to democracy, urging the authorities to halt the menace.

National Coordinator of the organisation, Emmanuel Onwubiko, argued that the growing number of violent exchanges between diverse law enforcement agencies was a sign that the system had broken down.

“We are appealing to President Bola Tinubu, who has the overall command and control of the structures of the armed forces, police and the law enforcement agencies, to take immediate steps to launch a profound investigation into the reason these clashes are happening much frequently, and then activate pragmatic mechanisms to stamp it out,” Onwubiko

HURIWA argued that there was a rising erosion of professionalism and discipline in the law enforcement agencies, including the armed forces.

The organisation alleged that undemocratic elements embedded within the various law enforcement agencies were instigating the unprecedented rise in clashes and physical confrontations amongst the agencies, just so that constitutional democracy may collapse.

It spoke against the backdrop of the latest clashes in Kaduna between the Air Force and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and in Yola between the Nigeria Police Force (NAF) and Nigerian Army.

It urged the president to restore professionalism and the highest disciplinary ethics within the armed forces and other law enforcement bodies.

HURIWA said that the NAF personnel reportedly stormed the commission’s office in an attempt to release their colleagues earlier arrested by EFCC operatives for allegedly attempting to forcibly release fraud suspects from custody.

It also recalled that on Wednesday, November 22, 2023, a Police Inspector, Jacob Daniel, was confirmed dead in the course of a clash between soldiers and policemen at the Adamawa Police Command headquarters in Yola, which was attacked in the early hours by soldiers.

The civil rights group said the faceoff followed a rift between police operatives and their military counterparts that started in the late hours of Tuesday.

 The group also observed that a few hours after President Bola Tinubu assumed office, the EFCC and the Department of State Service (DSS) clashed over  rights to a property in Ikoyi, Lagos.

HURIWA which advocated sustainable synergy amongst members of the different security forces and law enforcement agencies,  said anything to the contrary posed a threat to democracy.