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By Cosmas Omegoh
Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase dropped a bombshell recently when he called for psychiatric test on policemen. Mr. Arase, who spoke on Tuesday, January 12, in Abuja at the Nigeria Police Force Health Policy Revalidation forum, was quoted as saying that the force was considering embarking on such exercise amid rising cases of police extra-judicial killings in the country over the years.
Nigerians are unhappy that incidences of policemen killing the citizens they are paid to protect have continued to experience an upswing. Members of the public increasingly witness security men firing at defenceless civilians, especially on the roads, killing them with no justifiable reason.
On Thursday, April 11, 2013, for instance, a policeman alleged to be on illegal duty at Daleko, in Mushin, Lagos, shot and killed one Chrysantus Korie. It was an emotional moment recently for his friends when they gathered to remember him.
Korie, 37, a psychology graduate from Imo State University, Owerri, was killed by policemen who accosted him demanding money. An eyewitness who was with him when the sad incident happened said while he tried to figure out what to do next, shots rang out from the gun of the policeman standing right in front of his car, hitting him several times in the chest. He died instantly still strapped to the wheels of his Toyota Highlander Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV). Till date, all efforts made by his family and kinsmen to get justice all came to naught.
Three month after, on August 20, 2013, a policeman allegedly killed an okada rider in Ikorodu, a suburb of Lagos, for disobeying the state’s traffic law. The man identified as Kunle, was said to be a student of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, who was using the motorbike he was riding to make a living during one of the prolonged lecturers’ strikes which are commonplace in the nation’s university system.
Till this moment, anger over the killing of Mr. John Chukwuemeka Okoro has not yet died down. On August 11, 2014, two policemen identified as Corporal Agada Lawrence and Corporal Kenneth allegedly killed Chukwuemeka, the son of Senator Fidelis Okoro, former Chairman, Senate Committee on Defence. The incident was said to have happened at Durumi in Abuja. The senator allegedly petitioned the police alleging extra-judicial killing of his son. Investigations were said to have been conducted and arrests made. But the outcome of the efforts remains unknown to many.
Back in Lagos in May, 2015, a tricycle operator, identified as Akeem Aranse, was allegedly shot dead by a top police officer, an assistant superintendent of police, simply identified as Mohammed, during an exchange of words. The dastardly incident happened in Shasha, Akowonjo, a suburb of Lagos. Same year too, an eyewitness recalled the gruesome murder of an official of a transport union in Ijaiye area of Lagos by a soldier attached to Op Mesa (a police and army patrol team) after the victim had delayed in giving the soldier and policeman the bribe they usually collected from them on daily basis.
And in September 2015, a police corporal believed to be attached to Isheri-Oshun Division in Lagos, fired at a tricycle on Isheri/ Ijegun road, killing a lady passenger, Idongesit Ekpo, on the spot. The lady’s husband who was operating the tricycle was also injured. No reason was given for the unwarranted action.
Then on December 27, 2015, Lagos residents cringed at the news of the killing of the Oyesunle twins by a policeman around Paulson Hotel, Ketu, Lagos. The security man identified as Sergeant Steven James, also took his own life using the same service rifle he used to kill Taiwo and Kehinde, thus forcing that mad moment of avoidable tragedy to go full cycle.
In a bid therefore to ensure that policemen do not continue in this tradition in the New Year, some citizens have expressed worry over the incident. They want Mr. Arase to restrain his men and prevent them from visiting mayhem on the people. They also suggested measures to ensure that policemen under his watch do not continue to exceed their boundaries in their daily encounters with the citizenry.
Speaking on what the police and the public should understand as extra-judicial killing, a lawyer, Mr. Pat Anyadubalu, warned: “Life is sacred in the eye of the law and that is why the Constitution unequivocally guarantees right to life.
“Any termination of life that does not follow the dictates of the law is extra judicial. The term ‘extra judicial,’ according to Black’s Law Dictionary 8th edition, is acting ‘outside the functioning of the court system.’ Extra-Judicial killing is one that is not authorised by the court.”
He noted that: “Section 33(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended makes a provision which is a fundamental right that every person has a right to life and no person shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.
“Any killing of a human being by anybody, police, soldier or mob that is not in compliance with the above Constitutional provision is extra-judicial because it was not ordered by the court.”
He added that “it is important to note that Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended provides that a person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty.
“The place to prove a person guilty is the court of law and not at police custody. It is therefore ultra vires of the powers of the police, soldier, mob or any other person to kill anybody on the presumption that they have committed any offence, no matter how grievous.”
Anyadubalu, however, averred that the Criminal Code Act, Cap C-38 Laws of the Federation provides elaborately on the self-defence.
“Section 286 provides thus: ‘These sections of the Constitution and Criminal Code Act give the police, anybody the right to self defence; therefore anybody who is violently attacked by an alleged armed robber can lawfully defend themselves without running foul of the law.”
Responding to the allegation that in some cases policemen shoot their victim because they failed to part with money or stop when asked to, he said: “Section 4 of Police Act Cap P 19, Laws of Federation 2004 provides thus: ‘The police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged, and shall perform such military duties within or outside Nigeria as may be required of them by, or under the authority of this or any other Act.’
“It is therefore not part of the duty of the policeman to demand or receive bribe. Any policeman who kills anybody for refusing to give them bribe commits extra-judicial murder. Police authorities have always treated policemen in this category by first dismissing them and charging them with murder.
“A policeman does not have the legal power to kill a motorist because they fail to stop at a check point. He has power to arrest or even search or detain any person whom he reasonably suspects of having in his possession or conveying in any manner anything he has reason to believe to have been stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained.
“However, it is unlawful for a motorist to disobey the police by refusing to stop when stopped. It is equally unlawful for a policeman to kill a motorist just because he failed to stop. There are other means to get the motorist like using the police van or motorcycle to pursue the fleeing motorist.
“Where it becomes reasonably necessary to use gun, the police should aim at demobilising the car and not killing the motorist.
“Motorists are warned always to obey the police whenever they are stopped and not tempt them to pull the trigger. The consequence is always fatal. We say in our local lingo that, life has no duplicate.”
Anydaubalu also suggested how incidences of extra-judicial killings in the country could be stopped. “It should start with the citizens. Members of the public should try and understand the peculiar situation under which policemen work. Citizens should appreciate that life has no alternative and avoid any situation that might lead to loss of life.
“You do not argue with a man with gun. Though it is not a justification for extra-judicial killing by any law enforcement agents, the manner some citizens talk to policemen on the road is dangerous and in some cases provocative.
“We should learn to be very diplomatic with policemen, especially when they are on the road, under intense and often unfriendly weather. Whenever the policeman is going beyond his duty, motorists should try and see his senior officers who are in most cases more approachable and understanding.
“Citizens should try and have all the necessary documents relating to their vehicles and items in their vehicles and as much as possible avoid engaging in altercation with the police. Citizens, above all, should be law abiding because it is when one runs against the law that they may fall prey and begin to compromise the police.”
Responding, a retired assistant commissioner of police, who preferred to be anonymous said: “I think the problem does not lie with inadequate human rights training alone because there is no policeman who does not understand the sanctity of life. The problem is corruption and greed.
“Most recorded cases of extra-judicial killing involving the police were not prompted by the need to fight crime or arrest fleeing suspects but because of the victim’s refusal to part with money.
“I recommend that policemen should intermittently undergo psychological checks to determine their mental state. This does not intend to ridicule the force. However, it is necessary to stem the tide of extra-judicial killings. The Divisional Police Officers should also check their men and reprimand those who drink while on duty or under the influence of drugs.
“Adequate training on the use of drugs and guns and the consequence for the abuse, should be given to the police too.
“The state should not hesitate to punish any policeman who abuses his office by killing any citizen without justification.” He also recommended a restructuring of the training programme of various police academies across the country to ensure that they meet the needs of the times.