Abuja – The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Friday advised the Federal Government to employ available means to counter insurgency and human rights violation in the country.
President of the Association, Mr Augustine Alegeh, gave the advise in Abuja while reading the communiqué of the 55th Annual General Conference of the NBA at a news conference.
“To deal with the twin problems of insurgency and observance of human rights, we recommended that efforts to wipe out terrorism, including tackling of illiteracy and unemployment must be undertaken by the federal government.
“Government should as a matter of national development, initiate prompt, independent and impartial investigation into the gross human rights violations allegedly committed by the military and the terrorists to safeguard against such violations in future.
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“Government should provide an effective remedy to victims of human rights violations and their families, including compensation and humanitarian relief.”
He said the conference also noted the need for government to end the misery of parents of the Chibok girls by resolving the mystery surrounding their abduction and location.
“The mystery surrounding the abducting of the girls should be unraveled and the girls should be rescued and handed over to their families.’’
Noting the current security challenges of the country, Alegeh said the conference agreed that there was an urgent need to increase the number of police personnel beyond the recruitment of 10,000 persons.
He also said that the current salary and welfare provision of the Nigerian police contradicts national development.
He said the conference called for an urgent review of the Nigeria Police salary scale to bring it in tandem with what was paid Nigeria Armed Force and the Nigerian Customs Service personnel.
The NBA president said that the Nigeria Police Act, like several other acts, needed urgent amendment to bring it to conformity with current realities of policing.(NAN)