HURIWA demands arrest of Cross River youths over lynching of widows

0
291
HURIWA condemns airstrike in Imo

A Civil Rights Advoca­cy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, has tasked the Nigeria Police Force to fish out and prosecute some Cross Rivers youths who allegedly attacked and tortured two Catholic sisters to death over witchcraft allegations.

Comrade Emmanu­el Onwubiko, HURIWA’s National Coor­dinator, in a statement condemned the killing of the two Catholic sisters who were returning from early morning Mass, and noted that jungle justice has no place in a civilized society.

Recall that two widows, Martina Osom and Rose Akon, on Saturday, were accused of witchcraft and allegedly lynched by some youths in Ebbaken commu­nity, Boje, in the Boki Local Govern­ment Area of Cross River State.

The victims, devout Catholics, were reportedly returning from early morn­ing prayers when the youths accosted them and allegedly killed them.

Commenting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The lynching of the two Catho­lic sisters is strongly condemned. It is barbaric and a manifestation of cruel­ty of the highest order. So, therefore, the police must fish out the killers and prosecute the culprits. HURIWA rec­ommends a tough punishment for the culprits to serve as deterrent.

“Jungle justice is alien to any civ­il society and should be stamped out using all constitutional provisions. For instance, Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) states thus: ‘Ev­ery person has a right to life and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria’.

“Similarly, Section 315 of the Crim­inal code Act states thus: ‘Any person who unlawfully kills another is guilty of an offence called murder or man­slaughter, according to the circum­stances of the case’.

“Section 220 of the Penal Code pre­scribes that anyone who intentionally caused the death of another commits culpable homicide. Section 8(1) of Ad­ministration of Criminal and Justice Act (2015) also agreed that no one has the right to take another’s life.

“The killers of the Cross River Catholic youths must be produced and prosecuted because they committed an offence that is liable on conviction to a term of imprisonment not ex­ceeding 5 years, as prescribed by the Section 2(1) of the Violence Against Persons Act.

“Security agencies must stop in­creasing assault on Catholics. Just weeks ago, four reverend sisters of the Catholic Church were kidnapped along the Okigwe-Enugu road in Imo State, on their way to the church for mass. Some kidnapped Catholic priests have been gruesomely murdered just for being Catholics. This must stop forthwith.