Efio-Ita Nyok|22 July 2016|8:26AM
As a direct sequel to the activities of the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Cross River State tasked with the responsibility of clamping down on the recent waves of crimes in the state especially Calabar, a handful of arrest has been made in the state capital. Some have been said to be out of place by critics. Ifere Paul, Cross River most influential social commentator who has been declared wanted by the government of Cross River State has sent a petition to the Director-General, Public Complaints Commission to wade into the saga. Amongst other things he has requested protection from the commission on the basis that his life is at risk. Paul has reportedly copied the governments of the US, UK, Australia, Thailand, ECCG and UN. Excerpt:
21st July, 2016
The Director-General
Public Complaints Commission
Aguiyi Ironsi Way, Maitama
Abuja.
Dear Sir,
A PETITION TO INVESTIGATE THE PERPETUAL HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION BY THE CROSS RIVER STATE GOVERNMENT.
I humbly write to draw your urgent attention on the above subject matter.
I am a social crusader, environmental protection activist and child rights advocate.
On the 17th of July, 2016 at about 8.am, some men of the newly inaugurated Joint Task Force (Police Men, Soldiers, Navy, & Air Force) stormed the NIPOST Quarters along MCC Road by Timber Market, Calabar in a coordinated raid largely believed to fish out criminals living in that Quarters. A lot of these parents were hurriedly matched out of their rooms and asked to sit down on the ground that was already muddy on account of the frequent rainfalls in that terrain . The children were kept hungry for hours without end. The few young boys who had the courage to inquire from the men why such ill treatment were being meted on their mothers, were grossly assaulted and battered for daring to ask why their mothers were treated in such a degrading manner.
As if that was not enough, the security operatives through the directives of the government officials representing the governor matched the innocent mothers and the children into a military truck and took them to the police station where they were detained. It is important to note that this incident was captured on video by TV Camera crew.
It is a fact that over the past two months Cross River State Capital, Calabar has been overtaken by gangsters, cultists, armed bandits, robbers and kidnappers. According to government sources, it was asserted that members of these heinous groups were living among the residents of Nitel Quarters, Calabar. Whether the statement is true or not cannot be independently verified as I have been declared wanted by the governor after disclosing government incompetence, gross abuses of power, corruption and fraud in the affairs of governance in Cross River State.
According to information I gathered through calls, it has been verified that someone of the parents arrested were released after paying a fee. Those unable to pay the fee are still being detained. Residents living in NITEL QUARTERS that I spoke with revealed that several women with children are still held up there while their young children are left at home with neighbors who are barely able to cater for their immediate families.
A resident I spoke with who pleaded anonymity for fear of being hunted and subsequently tortured for disclosing the inhumane acts of the Cross River State Government affirmed that she was asked to provide the Identity Cards of two of her children who were unfortunately unable to complete their secondary school education on grounds of financial insufficiency and have resorted to petty trading of food items just to make ends meet without being a liability to the society and their family. It is a fact that a family with such little exposure to the good things of life will definitely not make Identity cards a priority for their children. According to her, her children are now accused of being armed robbers because they are unable to provide any valid identity card. She went further to say that the children were tortured while in custody in order to coerce them in accepting guilt of an offence they did not commit nor have knowledge of. The plight of these mothers and children triggered my passion as a human rights activist in being the voice of the voiceless, I criticized the government for not going through due process as prescribed by law in the manner the arrests and torture of the citizens of Cross River State were subjected to especially from an area that has no lingering records of high crime rates as compared to the two Local Government Areas ( Bakassi and Akpabuyo) declared by the government as being the hub for criminal activities.
I must state with all sense of integrity and sincerity that I am not in support of armed robbery, kidnapping, and other social vices prevalent in Calabar, nay Cross River State. I am privileged to be well known in my state, Cross River for my incessant crusades against bad governance, corruption and the shortcomings of the Cross River State Government and for these reasons, the Cross River State government has taken its toll to haunt me for constructively criticizing the flaws of its government which I embark on in order to have a responsive and accountable government.
Presently, I am wanted by the Cross River State government on account of several petitions I have made against it on its bad governance policies. The government wants to silence me because they do not want the investigation of one of my petitions against the government on official misconduct, misappropriation funds, fraud and incompetence to be taken against them. I have been informed that the government intends to inject me with deadly substances once I am captured.
I therefore crave your indulgence to come to my aid in carrying out a thorough investigation on the issue of the Cross River State Government human rights abuses and violation and more importantly plead that you use your good office in seeing to my safety as the Cross River State wants me dead because of my frequent campaigns against its bad governance and embezzlement of state funds.
See photos of inhuman treatment and child right violations in the attached.
Cc:
US Embassy(Ambassador)
Australia Embassy(Ambassador)
British Embassy(Consulate General)
The United Nation Human Right Office
The Thailand Embassy
The ECCJ
_________
Ifere Paul
(PETITIONER)
