Mob action a reflection of trust deficit in justice system – Ex-CP

Retired Commissioner of Police and former Force Public Relations Officer, Dr Emmanuel Ojukwu, has lent his voice to the recent Kaduna incident and growing cases of mob actions. He said the incident shows the dangers of self-help and declining confidence in the justice system.   As a retired police commissioner, what was your immediate reaction […]

Retired Commissioner of Police and former Force Public Relations Officer, Dr Emmanuel Ojukwu, has lent his voice to the recent Kaduna incident and growing cases of mob actions. He said the incident shows the dangers of self-help and declining confidence in the justice system.

 

As a retired police commissioner, what was your immediate reaction to the killing of a female teacher in Kaduna last week?

Well, that incident is a very sad development. It should not be happening in Nigeria or in the 21st century. It shows that mob reaction is still viable in this country, that should not be so. Why do we have mob reactions? People resort to self help and take laws into their hands when they have a perception or belief that the criminal justice system has failed them.

That is to say that the police have failed them. The courts have failed them. The judiciary and legal process have failed them. So, they resort to self-help to help themselves. That should not be so.

 

The victim was reportedly in police custody before she was allegedly released to her attackers, what do you make of that?

It is indeed very regrettable that somebody will be snatched from police custody and be executed without justice. This is a failure on the part of the police. The police have a duty to protect every citizen in their custody and make sure such citizens on police premises are protected from angry mob. There are ways of dispersing an angry mob. The police ought not to have allowed that to happen within their premises. It is a very bad signal, and it does not speak well of the police or any law enforcement agency to have a suspect in their custody snatched by a so -called mob.

 

What should the police have done under the circumstances?

There are crowd control measures approved by law which the police use in their process. When a mob is approaching, the police can stop them, can use tear gas, use water cannon, but forcibly stop them from doing what they want to do, which in this case, they are taking lives. That’s the ultimate right everybody has. Police can barricade the police station, they can call for reinforcements. They can put barbed wire and cover the police station. But the question is, do the police have the wherewithal to do that? They could smoke the crowd and disperse them from attaining their objectives. Now we’ve lost a Nigerian in a way that is not proper in the eyes of the law and the eyes of the international community.

 

 There appears to be a growing trend of mob violence across the country. What could be fueling it?

People are in a hurry to get things done. They want  justice immediately. But there’s a process of attaining justice. If people begin to take laws into their own hands, innocent persons may become victims. And anybody for that matter can be a victim of mob violence. Mob psychology, people operate under the fluke of anonymity that aren’t known. So people do that when they want to exert their kind of vengeance on their enemies and those who have hurt them.

 

Is it largely a consequence of declining public confidence in law enforcement and the judicial system in general?

Apart from lack of confidence or loss of confidence in the criminal justice system, in the police, the court and in the prisons, it’s also a loss of faith in the government. The government is put in place as elected by Nigerians and funded by Nigerians to protect them. Where the government does not do what it ought to do, people would lose confidence in it, so they want to do it by themselves and for themselves which will put all of us into anarchy.

It appears to me that Nigerians are hurting. Nigerians are aggrieved by many things, a lot of hardship. There’s what’s called catharsis trying to… things, let ventilate anger at anything that symbolises government and anything that appears to be as part of those things that are hurting them. People can’t reach out to government and deal with government directly so if they see anybody who’s holding that appears to be contrary to what they believe in or that is hurting them they want to unleash anger directly on that person as a way of dispersing aggression.

 

  Can there be any legal, ethical or operational justification for a police officer to release a suspect to an angry mob?

No, no, no, no, no. Never in this country and not anywhere else  in the world. Somebody in the police custody must be protected by the police. In fact death while in police custody is a serious offence of misconduct in the Nigerian police. If somebody dies in police custody it’s a serious offence. I don’t know the fact of this case you’re talking about now but if a DPO released somebody in a custody to a mob, there’s a serious disciplinary action against him and he may face a law court for aiding and abetting murder.

Most mob actions are fuelled by rumours and unverified allegations. What role does misinformation play in these incidents? And how can it be addressed?

There are so many things flying on social media. People are misinformed. People read half of the story and they believe half of the story. It is said that half education is dangerous. People should verify facts, verify information they see in the newspapers and in the news media.

Some observers argue that mob action, mob justice thrive because some citizens believe criminals often escape punishment through corruption or delays in the courts…

That perception may be there, but people’s perceptions could be faulty, and many times they are faulty. The criminal justice system drives slowly, it takes time. The court can’t just pronounce somebody guilty because somebody said so. Facts have to be adduced in the court of law and you must prove the case beyond reasonable doubt.

 

What reforms would you suggest or recommend to reduce incidents of mob violence and strengthen respect for the rule of law by Nigerians?

Nigerians need to be carried along in the processes of law enforcement. The police in the process of community policing should educate citizens on how the law runs.

They should understand that it takes time. Two, traditional rulers and the rest of them who are opinion leaders, those who lead people in religious areas, should educate Nigerians not to take laws into their hands and to believe in the government they have in place.

Even outside Nigeria, the justice system still takes time, takes years to come through. They should be patient with the system.

 

What specific reforms should be implemented within the police force?

It’s not just about the police that should be reformed. Nigeria as a whole should be reformed. In areas of governance, in areas of accountability, in areas of spending money where it should be spent. People should be recruited properly and trained properly and they should be remunerated and paid adequate salaries.

Nigerians should have trust in their system and allow it to run. Trust deficit is much and we need to bridge that gap so that Nigerians can begin to trust their systems and believe in them to work for them.

 

Should there be stronger sanctions against individuals who participate in mob attacks?

A mob action, an attack of this nature that kills somebody, people should be arrested, people should be held responsible for that behavior. Nobody can kill a human being and go free, no. The law, the arm of the law should catch up with them and the rules should be applied concerning such misbehavior.

It’s a misbehavior, it’s a misconduct, it is a criminal offense to kill a human being under a mob action. The law should take its course against them.

 

 What lessons should serving police officers learn from the Kaduna incident?

I know that every officer knows that what happened in Kaduna is not approved by the police standard operating procedures and they know that there will be sanctions. So when the sanctions are meted, people should learn from such experiences and learn from such a mistake and guide themselves against a repeat.

How are such incidents of mob action being handled in other climes? I mean abroad.

Elsewhere, when such mobs come they are dispersed. And arrests are made of those trying to take laws into their hands to prevent others from thinking that they can run laws short over the system.

The system of justice should not be broken into. Nigerians should not vandalize the police station and take power from them. It’s like a coup.  It’s more than a coup, it’s like a mutiny. And everywhere in the world it is condemnable and the police must dominate the situation and assert their rights and authority to make sure their stations are not overrun, to make sure they don’t lose their cache of arms and ammunition, to make sure that those who are in custody are kept safe.