The Committee for De­fence of Human Rights (CDHR) on Sunday, March 14, berated President Buhari for issuing a shoot-on-sight order, stating that it has no ba­sis in the nation’s law.

This was contained in a statement issued by Dr. Osagie Obayuwana, national president of CDHR, in a press statement.

According to the CDHR, there are “Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Fire Arms by Law Enforcement Offi­cers,” which emphasizes pro­portionality and mandates that the use of lethal force should be as an absolute last resort and only when strictly unavoidable, in order to pro­tect life.

Obayuwana also noted that there was doubt that the security situation Nigeria contends with at this time is grave, but the rational handling of the situation calls for circum­spection and not knee-jerk reactions.

The statement reads, “One would not want to be­lieve that Mr. President, in making his order, is play­ing to the gallery of public expectations. No matter the gravity of the situation, the law is that a citizen is pre­sumed innocent until prov­en guilty by a court of law and can only be punished and stipulated in law.

“All members of the society are exposed to danger in a situa­tion where Mr. President by casual order confers powers of life and death on a police­man or soldier, who accuses, judges and executes punish­ment in spite of the standard set in the law.

“After all, Mr. President has not declared a state of emergency under Section 305 of the Consti­tution; were Mr. President to have done so, a formal proclamation will be nec­essary and the stipulations and preconditions outlined in the Constitution will be complied with; the duration will be as spelt out in the law, and the National Assembly would have played its role in the process.”