Group Urges NASS To Pass Anti-Torture Bill

As the United Nations Organisation (UNO) celebrates Tuesday the 26th of every year as the International Day Against Torture, a Niger Delta based non governmental organisation the Niger Delta Coalition Against Violence has urged the National Assembly to expedite action on the passage of the Anti Torture Bill before it.

The president of the coalition Mr Christian Lekia who said this in an exclusive interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt noted that Nigeria cannot continue to lag behind when other countries have already domesticated the treaty against torture.

He said that the coalition will continue to bring pressure on members of the house to pass the bill into law.

Mr Lekia who is also the facilitator  of Police Friendly Society Initiative  said that the group is already collaborating with the Police Community Relations Committee (PCRC) and police authorties to check cases of torture in Rivers State.

The group president used the occasion to thank the new leadership of the Nigerian Police Force for ensuring that suspects are no longer kept beyond 24 hours in police custody, stressing that it is an indication that the authorities are giving attention to issues that concern human rights on the security situation in the country.

Mr Lekia urged the various security agencies to ensure that their intelligence units are developed in line with global standard, stressing that no nation can survive terrorism except its intelligence unit is properly developed.

He used the occasion to advise the government to rise up against all forms of rights violations in the country.