Police has been called upon to release or arraign in court of competent jurisdiction, a journalist and publisher of Cross River Watch, Agba Jalingo who was “abducted’ in Lagos and driven to Calabar the Cross River State capital and has been held incommunicado by the authorities since the 24th of August without trial.
The call was made on Sunday in Lagos by the Centre Against Injustice and Domestic Violence (CAIDOV) in a press release signed by it’s Executive Director, Gbenga Soloki warning that nothing untoward must happen to Jalingo in the custody of the police and that the police. Soloki says the police has breached the detainee’s right to freedom as he has been incarcerated beyond the constitutionally allowed 48 hours, without trial.
The CAIDOV boss equally berated the commissioner of police in Cross River for acting illegally by keeping him without trial for over a week of detention and called on the inspector General of Police to investigate and ensure the right of the journalist is not further infringed upon.
CAIDOV further maintain that the police echelon in the state should be queried why the detention of a citizen even when there has not been any such order from a court of law to that effect.
According to the human rights activist, “the detention of Citizen Agba Jalingo by the Cross River command of the police is condemnable and breach of his fundamental human rights as he has been held without trial since 24th of August which is beyond what the Constitution stipulates as well as the act. A citizen can’t be locked up for about two weeks and the commissioner of police in that state will keep mute. If there is any allegation against him, it’s proper and reasonable that investigation would have been carried out thoroughly before effecting arrest. But from all indications, it seems the reverse is the case here.”
Continuing, “we want to use this medium to call on the inspector General of police to call the police commissioner in cross river state to order to either release Citizen Agba Jalingo or charge him to court as further detention without trial is a continued flagrant violation of his rights”.
