Date Published: 10/26/10

Bomb blasts: HURIWA demands open trial for suspects.

Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) a democracy inclined and development focused non-governmental organization has joined the growing voices of opposition to the decision by the State Security Services (SSS) to conduct secret trial of the suspects arrested in the wake of the twin bomb explosion that rocked Abuja on October, 1st 2010. The Rights group said secret trial in what ever guise is unconstitutional and undemocratic and should be discontinued forthwith.

The Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) had at the weekend reportedly kicked against the secret trial of the bomb blasts’ suspects at the Chief Magistrate Court Wuse, Zone 6, Abuja and even petitioned Federal Capital Territory’s judicial authority over the decision of the presiding magistrate to proceed with the said secret trial. Lawyers and media workers were denied access to the court room.

The Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria, [HURIWA] anchored her opposition to the secret trial on the fact that it will deny the suspects their constitutionally guaranteed fundamental right of fair hearing as enshrined in section 36 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and also prevent the Nigerian populace from following actual accounts of the legal proceedings which are primarily over a criminal activity that affected members of the public at a public event to mark Nigeria’s golden Independence anniversary.

In a statement by the National coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and National Director of Media Affairs Miss Zainab Yusuf, the Rights group demanded what it called “transparently credible, open and clean judicial prosecution’’ of the suspects indicted by the States Security Services (SSS) over the cruel and unfortunate bomb explosions that killed over a dozen innocent Nigerians who trooped out to mark Nigeria’s golden Jubilee of our independence.

HURIWA stated thus; “we wish to join the growing chorus of right thinking patriots who have appealed to the Federal government to conduct transparently open trial of all the suspects so far arrested over their alleged involvement in the October 1st 2010 twin bomb blasts in the nation’s capital”.

“We call on President Goodluck Ebele Azikiwe Jonathan, a sufficiently educated man, and the hierarchy of the nation’s judiciary to conduct open trial of the suspects because the offences for which they are charged bordered on the elimination illegally of the lives of members of the public and these offences were allegedly committed publicly. Nigeria as a democracy must no longer practice these unconstitutional and dictatorial judicial processes that were the unfortunate hallmark of military regimes. We demand that real legal representatives of the suspects, the accredited media and willing members of the Nigerian public to be allowed unfettered access to watch the legal proceedings”, HURIWA submitted.

The Rights group also advised the government to ensure quality, diligent and professional prosecution of all the suspects so that whosoever is found guilty by the competent court of law is sanctioned appropriately for this heinous crime and if any of the suspects is set free by the court, so be it.