Extra-judicial police killings
A new wave of extra judicial killings by police officers in their daily encounters with civil members of the society has stirred intense public concern over the mindset of the officers and commitment to their constitutional duty. Among the country-wide instances of police extra-judicial killings was the case of policemen reportedly beating one Mr. Ogar […]
A new wave of extra judicial killings by police officers in their daily encounters with civil members of the society has stirred intense public concern over the mindset of the officers and commitment to their constitutional duty. Among the country-wide instances of police extra-judicial killings was the case of policemen reportedly beating one Mr. Ogar Jombo, a uniformed officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSDC), to death in Abuja. This happened in the presence of the deceased’s wife and children, and it was over a minor traffic offence.
Soon after the Abuja incident, men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Lagos shot one Mr. Johnson as he was reportedly going home after watching a football match with friends. Also within the same period, the Police in Port Harcourt killed a youth in yet unjustifiable circumstance. In other instances, the excesses of police officers have been occasionally extended to soldiers, leading to clashes between police formations and military units. Whenever military officers end up as victims of police brutality, it usually requires deft diplomatic inter-service settlement at the high commands of both services to calm things down, as often casualties are recorded, as each side tries to demonstrate superiority in fire-power.
A down-side of most of these extra-judicial killings is the lack of statutory justification in most of the cases. Statutorily the Police is assigned the task of enforcing the law in society as well as protecting lives and property. For the purpose of discharging this onerous task the Police is allowed the use of reasonable force in the discharge of their duties. According to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the use of force under consideration is confined to deployment of just enough force required to effect compliance with the law, by an unwilling suspect. This universal tenet of policing which applies to the operations of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), permits the police officer to apply reasonable force under conditions specified as in self-defense and in defense of another individual or group.
Lamentably, in most of the cases of extra judicial killings by the Police in Nigeria, hardly are the killer police officers exposed to any significant threats to them at the time of the killings. Rather most of the cases have instances where they tended to extort money or favours from potential victims. This situation should seriously engage the minds of the Police high command. It is therefore gratifying that Acting Inspector General of Police [IGP] Mohammed Adamu has commenced measures to address the issue. Nigerian society therefore expects that some improvement in the modalities of police operations are underway.
Specifically, the Police high command should aim to reduce public fear of and misgivings about the officers and men to the barest minimum. It is in this respect that the Police should pay more attention to the moral standing and quality of persons who constitute the intake into the force. There have been reports of well-known criminals and political thugs infiltrating the rank and file of the force. While the force may debunk such reports, the high incidence of extra-judicial killings provides more than enough cause to question the mindset of these killers in the force. Talking about mindset of most police officers, draws attention to the presently dilapidated state of the country’s police training institutions. While efforts should be intensified to keep miscreants out of the force through the recruitment door, it is also true that very effective training and orientation can mould even a recalcitrant youth into a good policeman.
We hope that the long-awaited passing into law of the Police Reform Bill will help the high command in the areas of welfare, training and equipping of the police force. This is therefore hoping that with the coming on stream of the Police Reform Act, it will be a new deal for the training and welfare of Nigerian police officers.