A Delta State based legal practitioner and rights activist, Barr. Favour Enuji, has called on the Chief Judge of Delta State and the State Judiciary to save the life of Master Chiemere Nneji, a 17 year old minor who is detained in the cell of the Nigeria Police, Agbor.
In an interview with journalists, Barr. Enuji stated that Master Chiemere Nneji was on Wednesday, 29th November, 2023 sentenced to a Prison term of three years, of which he has spent over two years.
In his words, “the Family Court of Delta State sitting at the High Court Agbor ordered for Master Chiemere Nneji to serve a term of imprisonment for three years having been found liable. The Court specifically ordered for the prison term of the juvenile to be served at the Delta State Children Remand Home at Sapele.
However, despite the above directions of the Family Court, Master Chiemere Nneji was taken from the Court and detained at the dungeon of the Nigeria Police Agbor, with mentally unstable and other hardened criminal suspects.
“This horrendous and appalling state of facts has been on since the 29th day of November 2023 till date despite our protest letters on the above subject. It is a travesty and indeed a sad day for the Judiciary. The Children Remand Home is the ideal place of imprisonment for children offenders and not the notorious detention facilities of the Nigeria Police. More so, the cell of the Nigeria Police is not known to hold persons without charge or already convicted persons.”
Inquiries by our correspondent at the cell of the Nigeria Police Station Agbor revealed that Master Chiemere Nneji apart from being naked and nursing several untreated injuries on his face and legs, has now caught fever causing him to shiver and convulse uncontrollably. Strange rashes have also ravished his skin. However, Police officers on duty confirmed that the detention of the minor was on Court Order.
Barrister Enuji who is also the Principal and Managing Partner of INDEX Chambers, called on the Chief Judge of Delta State, the Delta State Ministry of Women Affairs, the Delta State Ministry of Justice, the Human Rights community and the general public to wade into this ugly development where a minor will be held for over a week in breach of the judgment of the Family Court and the rights of Master Chiemere Nneji under the Child Rights Law and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
