Posted by Soni Daniel, Port Harcourt on
The Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law on Thursday blamed last Friday's invasion of the Port Harcourt Prison and the release of suspects by cultists on the inability of the government to pay priority attention to the protection of lives and property.
The Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law on Thursday blamed last Friday's invasion of the Port Harcourt Prison and the release of suspects by cultists on the inability of the government to pay priority attention to the protection of lives and property.
Voicing its anger over the incident, the Head of Access to Justice unit in IHRHL, Mrs. Chinyere Orji Kalu, described the incident as a manifestation of the porous security situation in the country, which places the citizens at the mercy of hoodlums.
The institute noted, 'The apparent ease with which these inmates reportedly made contacts with persons in and outside the prison, articulated their plans and eventually broke out of jail with a good number of security officials surrounding the area is simply disturbing and casts aspersions on the efficacy of our law enforcement mechanism."
The body called on the administration to address the growing tide of indefinite detention of persons in prisons without trial to prevent the breakdown of the prison as a corrective institution.
'The government should devise a long-term solution to check the level of lawlessness in the society," IHRHL said.
The Punch, Friday, June 24, 2005