Rights lawyer faults police for handing over wanted monarch to military 

By Peters Monday, Abuja

A rights lawyer, Omes Ogedegbe Esq has faulted the Nigerian Police, Delta State command for releasing the wanted Monarch to the Nigerian military after voluntarily surrendered himself to the police.

The Senior lawyer, argued that the release of the suspect to the military by the police contravened relevant provisions empowering the police to investigate and prosecute such cases in country.

The rights lawyer who doubled as the Director-General of the Conference For The Actualization Of Human Rights, Popularly known as Confab, said: “The handing over of the King of Ewu Kingdom to the army authority by the Delta State police command is a clear violation of the Constitutional duties of the police as established by the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

“The King of Ewu Kingdom voluntarily submitted himself to the police rather than to the military because he is aware the military have nothing to do in a case of murder whether committed against the military or not.

Sadly, rather than the police immediately take charge of the matter, the police ignorantly handed him over to the army authority which ought not to be, it should be the army handing over suspect to the police and not the other way round.

“For clarity Section 217 establishes the arm forces including the army and sub section 2 empowers the army to defend Nigeria from external aggression, maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its border.

Suffice to state nothing in the entire section 217 empowers the military to investigate a case of murder whether or not committed against them.

“By virtue of section 214 of the Constitution and the police act the police is the only authority empowered to prevent, detect and prosecute the commission of any offence relating to murder in any guise.

The police ought to have invited the military for the purpose of a proper investigation than hand over an alleged murder suspect to the army authority it’s a clear case of ignorance of constitutional responsibility”, he added.