A rights group, the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, RULAAC has expressed concerns over the manner in which the Delta Police Command handled the arrest of over 100 young people for allegedly carrying out a gay wedding ceremony in a hotel in Warri, Delta state and their parade before the media.
On Tuesday, the Police in Delta through the Command’s Public Relations Office, Bright Edafe paraded the over 100 gay suspects.
He said operatives of the patrol team attached to Ekpan Division, intercepted a male cross-dresser who claimed to be an actor and model, who upon interrogation, confessed to being a member of a certain gay club and that he was on his way to join his fellow members for a gay marriage ceremony.
He said acting on intelligence report, the team raided the said Hotel located off Refinery Road Ekpan, where some suspected gay members were reportedly holding the marriage ceremony.
But RULAAC in a statement by its Executive Director, Okechukwu Nwanguma, noted that while the group is not rooting for homosexual relationships, it believes due process was not followed by the Police in handling the suspects.
“Whereas we acknowledge that Homosexual relationships are criminalized in Nigeria, there are, nonetheless, established legal procedures for the treatment of persons accused of crime.
“Persons accused of committing any offence under the law are entitled to be presumed innocent until they are found guilty following a fair trial in a court of competent jurisdiction. They are also entitled to be treated with dignity.
“The point has been made repeatedly that parading suspects before the media is illegal, unconstitutional and prejudicial to fair hearing and fair trial. It is an illegal and unprofessional law enforcement method that violates human dignity and subverts the Constitutional right to presumption of innocence. It amounts to convicting the suspects without trial,” he said.
The RULAAC expressed dismay that the Delta Police Command could be so prompt in arresting and parading the gay suspects, when a case of ‘Obtaining by False Pretenses’ against a Delta State-based, self-acclaimed human rights activist, Harrison Gwamnishu’, has neither been investigated nor any action taken against him.
“We are amazed that the Delta State Police Command could be this prompt and efficient in arresting and parading gay suspects.
“Yet, more than 3 months after the Inspector-General of Police forwarded to the CP Delta a petition from a coalition of Civil Society organisations concerning allegations of ‘Obtaining by False Pretenses’ against a Delta State-based, self-acclaimed human rights activist, Harrison Gwamnishu, the Command has taken no action known to the petitioners.
“Harrison Gwamnishu was accused of defrauding several victims of millions of naira in his fake claim to activism.
“The IGP’s directive to the CP Delta dated 15 May, 2023, entitled ‘Alleged Fraud and Obtaining Money by False Pretenses against Harrison Gwamnishu by a Group of CSOs’ signed by CSP Idris Abdullahi Abubakar PSO to IGP directed the CP Delta to ‘handle’.
“Three months after, the petitioners are yet to hear anything about the investigation.
“Recently, Harrison Gwamnishu posted a photograph of himself and CP Wale Abass in his Facebook page where he described the Delta CP as ‘a father to me’ and said he ‘appreciate his fatherly love to me.”
The group condemned the abuse of legally-established procedures for handling crime suspects by parading the gay suspects before the media thereby flagrantly violating their due process rights.
It called on the police to not further violate their rights but to release them on bail or promptly charge them.
Nwanguma also condemned what he called ‘the double standards by the Delta Command in ignoring the directive of the IGP to investigate allegations of crime against Harrison Gwamnishu’.
“We call on the CP Delta to comply with the directive of the IGP and ensure unbiased and effective investigation of the allegations against Harrison Gwamnishu,” he said.
