By Adewole Kehinde
For years, a familiar refrain has echoed through the reports of Amnesty International and the pages of Sahara Reporters: references to the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and Special Tactical Squad (STS) offices located at the former FCT Abattoir area as “a notorious police detention centre where past detainees were reportedly tortured.” The repetition of this phrase has given it a veneer of truth. Yet repetition is not evidence, and slogans are not facts.
It is time to reclaim the truth from insinuation and challenge advocacy-by-assertion.
First, the IRT and STS offices in question are not a “notorious” place by any objective or verifiable standard. On the contrary, these facilities operate within modern, world-standard office settings appropriate for specialised law-enforcement units tasked with combating violent crime, terrorism, kidnapping, and organised criminal networks.
They are not clandestine dungeons hidden from oversight, but professional operational environments subject to internal regulations, chain-of-command supervision, and applicable legal frameworks.
Second, the officers in charge of these units are not faceless brutes, as some narratives subtly imply. They are well-educated, trained, and professional police officers, men and women who have undergone rigorous instruction in intelligence gathering, investigations, human rights standards, and rules of engagement. Many have attended advanced courses locally and internationally. To casually portray them as routine violators of human dignity is not only unfair; it is intellectually dishonest.
Third, and this is the crux of the matter, allegations demand proof. The principle is as old as justice itself: he who alleges must prove. Amnesty International and Sahara Reporters cannot continue to rely on vague phrases such as “reportedly tortured” without presenting concrete, verifiable evidence.
Who were these detainees? When exactly were they detained? What medical reports, photographs, court filings, or affidavits substantiate the claims? Which officers were involved, and what oversight bodies were notified at the time?
Naming a location repeatedly does not transform speculation into fact. Advocacy that abandons evidence undermines its own credibility and does a disservice to genuine human rights work. Worse still, it risks demoralising officers who daily put their lives on the line to protect citizens, often under extremely difficult circumstances.
This is not an argument against accountability. If any officer, in any unit, violates the law or abuses a detainee, that officer should be investigated and, if found culpable, sanctioned according to the law. No serious person opposes accountability. What must be rejected, however, is collective condemnation without proof, branding an entire facility and its personnel as “notorious” based on unsubstantiated claims.
Nigeria’s security challenges are complex, and the country needs both effective policing and responsible civil society engagement. The relationship between human rights organisations, the media, and security agencies should be grounded in facts, balance, and fairness, not sensationalism.
I therefore challenge Amnesty International and Sahara Reporters: if the IRT and STS offices at the former FCT Abattoir area are indeed “notorious,” present the concrete evidence. Lay it before the public. Submit it to the courts. Engage oversight institutions. Until then, Nigerians should treat such sweeping labels with caution.
In the end, truth does not fear scrutiny, but allegations without proof should never masquerade as established fact.
Adewole Kehinde is a public affairs analyst based in Abuja. 08166240846. kennyadewole@gmail.com @kennyadewole