By Hassan Zaggi
The Arewa Youth Alliance for Progress and Development (AYAPD), has frown at what it described as abuse of human rights by private security outfits recruited by the federal government to protect national assets, especially, pipelines.
The group has, therefore, called for respect of human rights in the Niger Delta region, noting that it has received several reports of private security organisation arresting and detaining innocent locals.
Speaking at a media briefing yesterday, the convener of AYAPD, Umar Babayaro, regretted that, recently, several complaints bordering on alleged human rights violations and abuses in the Niger Delta region by private security services have reached his group and that these violations are coming in the form of unlawful detentions and arrests by the organisation contracted by the federal government to secure pipelines in that region.
Reeling out the alleged cases of human rights abuses, Babayaro said: “Prominent are cases of Moses Richard from Shekri, Peter and Boma Samuel who are all victims of these human rights infringements. According to videos trending on social media, these youths were taken, beaten, and detained for several weeks.
“Another victim, Jolomi Abechukwu from Tisin Community who according to him, was arrested alongside his friend, Bade and taken into captivity in Oporoza where the alleged camp and illegal detention facilities of the security organisation are located. They were arrested on December 2, 2024, and released in January, 2025.”
The group, further said, “consequent upon the above, we hereby call on all relevant government agencies and Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), including international organisations, to look into these issues before they degenerate into unimaginable crisis.”
Speaking further, Babayaro said: “We seek for a thorough investigation into the activities of all private security services in the Niger Delta as it relates to administration of criminal justice and protection of human rights.
“As law-abiding youths of Nigeria, we do not want to believe that the pipeline surveillance contract, gives impetus to the security company to arrogate arrest and detention. These powers are reserved only for the security agencies in Nigeria.
“We are, therefore, drawing the attention of the Federal Government to this anomaly with a call on international organizations to help protect the rights of Nigerian youths because if this situation is not checked and stopped, youths living in the Niger Delta region will continue to suffer unnecessarily in the hands of these so-called security outfits.”
