As the rescheduled dates of the 2015 general elections draw nearer, the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has called on the presidential candidates of the two dominant parties in the country, President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and General Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC, to call their supporters to order to sto killing innocent Nigerians and Policemen.
The call was made by the Chairman of the governing council of NHRC, Dr. Chidi Anselem Odinkalu, who said that about 28 policemen were killed in politically motivated violence in February alone.
Odinkalu disclosed this when the Ekiti State Government and the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, visited NHRC to respond to accusations by the All Progressives Congress, APC, that the State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, was sponsoring the killings of its members in the State, assuring that the commission will dispassionately look into the petition.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Prof. Bem Angwe, in his response to the submission by the Ekiti government and the PDP, assured that the commission would not spare anyone found complicit in sponsoring political violence or encouraging hate speeches that are capable of inciting violence before and after the elections.
“We are happy that you have chosen to come to respond to the allegations against Dr. Ayodele Fayose, upon the receipt of the petition we had dispatched an invitation to the Governor and the PDP Chairman in Ekiti State. We are happy that you are here to represent the Governor and that the PDP Chairman in Ekiti is here in person.
“On the receipt of that petition we had said that the Commission would invoke its powers to ensure that justice is done and that whoever is found guilty of these abuses irrespective of position as there are no immunity when it comes to the abuse of the rights of Nigerians. We would invoke our powers and involve international human rights bodies to ensure that justice is done.
“We had also said if the petition is found not to be true we would not hesitate to punish the conveyors of the false allegation. We would in due course invite all the parties including Fayose to appear before it to state their sides of the story. I want to restate that we would be fair but firm and there is immunity for any person that infringes on the rights of any Nigerian”
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