The Peace Corps of Nigeria on Tuesday urged the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, to respect the ruling of a Federal High Court in Abuja which held that its headquarters be unsealed.
The PCN also asked the police to comply with the court ruling, stopping the force from harassing peace corps members.
The Lagos and South-West zonal Commandant of the peace corps, Mr. Mutairu Habib, in a statement on Tuesday, said the police had refused to obey the court order.
He said, “As you are all aware, after the passing of the Peace Corps Bill by the National Assembly, there was an unwarranted invasion and sealing of our headquarters and arbitrary arrest of our National Commandant, Mr. Dickson Akoh, and about 49 others on February 17, 2017 by officers of the Nigeria Police Force in Abuja.
“To end this retrogressive trend, a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, presided over by Justice Gabriel Kolawole, ordered last Thursday that the building be unsealed within seven days. The court also ruled that the sum of N12.5m be paid to us in damages.
“We, hereby, call on the Inspector-General of Police and the Nigeria Police Force to respect the court order and desist from unnecessary harassment and intimidation of our members, unseal our headquarters, and pay the damages as instructed by the court.”
Habib stated that the PCN was not in rivalry with other security agencies, urging President Muhammadu Buhari to assent to the Peace Corps Bill.