Police Under Fire For Using Journalist To Lure, Arrest Suspect
Nnamdi Chukwu
MR Chinedu Orlu-orlu, a reporter with Rivers State-based Today 95.1FM has described as a misrepresentation of facts a statement credited to the unit commander of the Commissioner of Police (CP) Monitoring Unit in the state wherein he denied Police officers intimidated and harassed him in order to lure and arrest a suspect.
Mr Kingsley Victor Woko, the Chairman of Rumuaholu Community Development Committee in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area was last Monday arrested by a team of Police mem using the journalist as bait.
Ike Wigodo, the Secretary of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Rivers State chapter, in an interview with journalists on Wednesday 7, June, 2023 said when he met with the Commander of the Commissioner of Police (CP) Monitoring Unit in charge of the matter, he (the Commander) insisted that Mr Orlu-orlu was not harassed or intimidated when he was used to lure and arrest the suspect.
However, In an interview with journalists, Mr Orlu-orlu said “If the Police will deny they indeed harassed me, they are then spewing outlandish lies. They harassed me, they took me out at gunpoint, and all of them that came, five of them, were with guns.
“After they dialled his (Victor Woko’s) number using my phone and his line came out on my phone as the”Current CDC Chairman”. They then told me that if I don’t produce him, they would hold me down, even for two years, and that they will deal with me.
“I asked them the station they came from, but they did not answer me. They said they will not tell me anything until the evening when I will know where I am.
“So they threatened me, I was terrified! They came like kidnappers, they did not come like normal Police officers. There was no form of identification. They came in the same way as kidnappers.
“They threatened my life. Immediately they used my line to call him and he came out, they shoved me aside in his presence, before the entire community where people were seeing that this is the man who he (CDC Chairman) usually call to come and run news for him. It now appears like I brought the Police to effect his arrest.
“I did not believe they were Police officers until the lawyer (Victor Woko’s lawyer) searched and found out that they were from State CIID.
Lawyers Speak On Use Of Journalist By The Police To Lure, Arrest A Suspect
Meanwhile, in an interview, Arochuckwu Paul Ogbonna, a legal practitioner and National Coordinator of the Civil Rights Council said “It is an absolutely wrong policing method. How can you arrest an innocent person who has committed no crime just because you want to arrest another?
“There is no vicarious criminal liability in law. The law is that every crime committed by an individual is for that individual, and it is the responsibility of the Police to arrest the suspect or the person suspected to have committed a crime according to the provisions of the law.
“You arrested an innocent person who has committed no offence, or on what basis did you arrest him? It is completely wrong policing and is inconsistent with the Police Act.
“What the Police did is absolutely wrong. The man they arrested without offence should file a suit against them, and petition them to the CP, IG and Police Service Commission.
“Let the journalist, first of all, report to the professional body, Nigeria Union of Journalists, Rivers State branch. The NUJ should proceed to court and lodge a complaint both criminal and civil. He should bring a fundamental rights action against the Policemen. His complaint and protest will put a stop to the criminal disposition of some Police officers who act outside the purview of the law and put the law into their own hands in order to perpetrate unacceptable behaviour in society.
“What the Police did is totally unacceptable in a democratic or civil society. It is very wrong. Police have the right to go after anybody that has committed a crime, but in doing so, they should not put innocent people in between them and their duty. The man is not a Policeman, so what brought him to the activities of the Police?”
Also, Victor Joel Esq, National Legal Adviser of the Centre for Basic Rights Protection and Accountability Campaign, in an interview said: “It is quite unfortunate the way the security agencies go about doing their job. Most times you find out that people are being arrested unlawfully and taken into detention for offences they did not commit
“Strictly speaking, the law is with regards to the fact that provided the person did not commit any offence, there is no reason whatsoever for the Police to arrest you and use you as a point of getting some other person. That means the Police have gone beyond what they are supposed to do and now infringe on your fundamental right.
“The action of the Police by arresting a journalist and taking him to a point where you want to get some other person arrested is in breach of his right and is a violation.
“It ought not to have happened in the first place. He should file a fundamental rights action against the Police claiming damages for such a breach of his right. That is the position”
Also, Mrs Jane James Esq, a lawyer and Chairperson of Legal Care Advocacy Foundation, in an interview, said the Police in the course of carrying out an investigation leading to the arrest of a suspect can explore different legitimate means. She, however, said in the case of Orlu-orlu, he could approach the court for legal interpretation of temporary seizure and restriction of his movement by the Police on the day of the incident.
Another lawyer, Henry Ekine Esq, who is also the National Legal Adviser of the Committee for Defence of Human Rights (CDHR) in an interview, said that there is a section of the law that provides that a citizen can assist the Police in the course of investigation to arrest a wanted suspect.
Mr Ekine however, said such assistance by the citizens will be devoid of threat, intimidation or harassment by the Police.
He said if the Police did not apply threat, harassment and intimidation in using the journalist to apprehend the suspect, his right cannot be said to have been violated.
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