By George Mgbeleke

Frontline pro-democracy and civil rights advocacy group HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has stated that the continuous daring operations being carried out by one-chance armed robbers in the Federal Capital Territory spotlights a clear absence of any sort of preventive security strategy and a strange lack of political and competent leadership in the nation’s capital.

HURIWA in a statement signed and made available newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday by it National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Nnadozie Onwubiko said the federal government does not have to wait for these killings of citizens to continue unabated before a major political decision is made to appoint a much more focused, committed, non-partisan patriotic technocrat to provide good governance, security of lives and property, sustainable development and tranquility to the good people of the federal capital Territory.

The Rights group described the killing of two women including a Nurse dumped in Abuja by gangs of armed one-chance robbers as clear signs that those appointed to provide good governance, stability, and security of lives and property of the residents and citizens of the FCT are engaged in other external activities unrelated to the core objectives of the essence of their appointments by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

The Rights group recalled that the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives Federal Health Institutions Sector on Tuesday expressed heartbreak over the killing of Nurse Chinemerem Chukwumeziem of the Federal Medical Centre, Jabi, Abuja. HURIWA stated that the killing of this Nurse and many others could have been prevented if the political authorities in the FCT are made up of persons of dedicated service and by non-political administrators committed to deliver selfless services to citizens of Nigeria resident and engaging in lawful business activities in the FCT. “But as it has become notorious, those assigned with the onerous task of protecting lives and property of Abuja residents are totally distracted by the politics of the next year’s general election thereby neglecting their primary responsibility as enshrined in the constitution of Nigeria.

HURIWA recalled that it was not just one person but indeed two women that were found dead in separate locations in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in incidents suspected to be linked to the activities of notorious “one chance” criminal gangs operating within Nigeria’s capital.

One of the victims, Chinemerem Pascalina Chuwumeziem, was a nurse with the Federal Medical Centre (FMC), Jabi, whose killing subsequently drew condemnation from the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), FCT Council.

The second victim, identified as Princess Ochigbo, was said to be found lying lifeless by the roadside, with indications suggesting she might also have fallen victim to “one chance” hoodlums.

HURIWA recalled media report stating that the National Secretary of the Nurses union in the specific section of Nurses in Nigeria, Enya Osinachi condemned the murder and called for urgent measures to protect nurses amid rising insecurity nationwide.

Osinachi said the nurse had completed her afternoon shift, cared devotedly for patients, boarded public transport home, but never arrived, becoming a victim of violent crime days into the new year.

“The deceased nurse, having spent her day rendering selfless service to humanity and saving lives, closed from afternoon duty on 3rd January 2026 and boarded a vehicle on her way home.

“Tragically, she never made it home alive. Her lifeless body was later discovered, dumped in a most inhumane and heartbreaking manner.

“This wicked and senseless act is not only an attack on the nursing profession but also an assault on healthcare workers and humanity at large,” the statement read.

The secretary described the killing as evidence of worsening insecurity threatening healthcare workers, particularly nurses who endure long shifts and unsafe commutes in many Nigerian cities.

Reacting to these and several other murderous cases of attacks in the FCT by one-chance armed robbers, HURIWA lamented that the poor, hapless and unprotected residents of the crime-prone capital city have been abandoned by politicians who ought to lead the fight against all manifestations of armed criminality in the capital city.

It argued that for instance the minister of FCT Nyesom Wike has been preoccupied since December 2025 with the heated politics of seeking the re-election of President Tinubu for a second term even as the substantial concentration and focus of the FCT minister has been in Rivers State whereby he has engaged himself in a supremacy battles with the incumbent governor of Rivers state Mr. Siminilayi Fubara who was in the first instance railroaded into office of governor by his erstwhile and now estranged godfather. HURIWA called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to appoint Mr. Nyesom Wike as his Director General of his presidential bid for 2027 so a fresh, competent, totally focused professional administrator and technocrat is appointed to provided the much desired governance standards in the FCT given that the lives of citizens are no longer safe.

HURIWA wonders why the security forces in the FCT seemed to have gone to sleep and have proved to be incapable or unwilling to map out effective preventive security strategy to curb the incessant cases of bloody attacks by one chance armed robbers in the FCT even as the Rights group said the government should give the citizens the right and licences to carry military grade AK-49 guns to protect themselves because the right to self-defence is constitutionally umperative and indeed provided for in chapter 4 of the 1999 constitution under section 33 which is BINDING AND ENFORCEABLE.

HURIWA recalled that globally, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) of 1948 essentially, is the foundation and the fundamental of contemporary human rights law, including the right to life. In Nigeria, the right to life as a constitutionally guaranteed right is protected under Section 33 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999, as amended). While Section 33 strongly affirms the sanctity of life, its subsections 2(a) (b) (c) provide certain exceptions which legal scholars say poses formidable challenge to the absolute nature of this right.

HURIWA citing scholarly texts stated that under the key section of the Right to Life can be explained thus:
The Supreme Court of Nigeria, in the landmark case Ransome-Kuti & Ors v. Attorney General of the Federation & Ors (1985) LLJR-SC, emphasized the preeminence of fundamental human rights, including the right to life. Justice Eso of the Supreme Court described these rights as “antecedent to the political society itself” and essential to civilized existence. The Court further stated that enshrining these rights in the Constitution provides them with a quasi-immutable status, ensuring their protection within the Nigerian legal system.

HURIWA argued that specifically, section 33 of the Nigerian Constitution guarantees that no person shall be deprived of their life intentionally, except in the execution of a lawful court sentence following a criminal conviction. The case of Bello v. Attorney General of Oyo State (1986) 5 NWLR Pt 45, p. 828 SC, where the Supreme Court ruled that the execution of a convict before the completion of his appeal was unlawful. This case highlights the importance of the life of individual under the constitution.

On the Exceptions to the Right to Life, HURIWA affirmed that while Section 33(1) of the Nigerian Constitution firmly establishes the right to life, subsection (2) creates legal grounds for exceptions. According to Section 33(2), a person shall not be considered to have been unlawfully deprived of life if the death occurs as a result of the use of force in the following circumstances:
[a]. Self-Defense and Defense of Property:
The use of force to defend oneself or one’s property from unlawful violence is legally permissible. In the case of Okonkwo v. State, where a burglar entered the appellant’s home with a dagger, the court upheld the appellant’s plea of self-defense after the intruder was killed. The court ruled that the fear of imminent harm justified the use of lethal force.

It is therefore the position of HURIWA that since the FCT administration has demonstrated a clear absence of any sort of preventive security strategy to curb the constant killings of residents by one chance robbers and other armed criminal non-state actors, the president should direct that citizens be granted the legal permits to bear arms for self defence.