84 innocent Nigerians killed in one year
Monday, July 16 in Kaduna, a widow was going about her business when protesting policemen fired shots in her direction, killing killed her. On record, she became the 84th innocent person killed by security personnel in Nigeria in the past year. Ironically, her late husband was a policeman.
Daily Trust Saturday findings show that the reported cases of killings by security personnel from the police, to the military and other paramilitary agencies from July 2017 to date stands now at 84. Most of the victims lost their lives over flimsy reasons.
In May, Jamiu Ojoshoade was shot dead by a Lagos District police officer for not running away when they approached. In Bayelsa, Oruyegha Grand was shot dead by police Sergeant Jilla Lannubo who wanted to “frighten him”. Bitrus Chukwudi Ugwuanyi was shot and killed for refusing to pay the police a N50 bribe. In Lagos, Niyijamesa Emi-Ero was stabbed to death by a soldier, Abiola Odedejifor refusing to offer him a ride on his motorcycle. In Kogi, Onimisi Ilori was tortured to death by men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Force. Linda Angela Igwetu, an NYSC member, who went out to celebrate the completion of her national service was shot, fatally wounded by policemen in Abuja and her dream – and that of her family – cut short.
The killings by uniformed men and women supposed to serve and protect, have been going on for a while. The attitude of the security agencies to the murders has often been controversial, and mostly nonchalant.
Admitting the killing in Kaduna, the state Police Public Relations Officer Mukhtar Aliyu, a Deputy Superintendent, said: “Some police officers who conveyed the corpses of their late colleagues to Kaduna on 17/07/2018 at about 1100hrs encountered an unfortunate incident where there was accidental discharge of gun-shot which hit a female member of the public. She was rushed to the hospital but sadly died from sustained wounds.”
The terse statement, while assuring the public of their safety, did not say anything about the victim, or condole her family. It was also silent about what actions the police would take on the officers responsible for causing her death.
In the last one year, the police alone have been responsible for the killings of 54 innocent civilians, three times more than incidents involving the army, which has been responsible for 17 reported deaths, while the navy has five. Lagos has produced the highest number of deaths with at least 18 reported cases involving fatalities.
The figures are worrying. But even more so, is the security agencies’ responses to these crimes by uniformed men.
When contacted for a reaction over the killings, Police spokesman, acting Deputy Commissioner Jimoh Moshood said he is not aware of any such killings by policemen. He, however, noted that since he became force spokesman, there has been only one such killing in Abuja involving a National Youth Corps member.
Moshood said the officer involved has been dismissed from the police and will face charges in court.
But for the Executive Director of the CLEEN Foundation, Dr Benson Olugbuo, the security agencies need to do more to curtail these incidences.
“Training and retraining of officers in weapon handling is very important. In addition, those responsible should be held accountable as a deterrent to others,” Olugbuo said.
Holding erring officers to account has often been challenging. In the 2005 police shooting of six traders later known as the Apo Six, it took all of 12 years for the police officers to be convicted.
Emmanuel Baba and Ezekiel Acheneje have both received death sentences for their involvement in that incident, while three others were acquitted. Then-DPO Othman Abdulsalam, wanted in connection with the murders, is still on the run.
Not many families have the stamina to pursue justice for their loved ones murdered, and not all cases make it to the media.
Chinenye Igwetu, sister to corps member Linda shot dead in Abuja, said her family is considering what legal action to take, but for now their decision will be dependent on events over the next week.
“There is a public hearing at NASS. They have adjourned it to next Tuesday. We are waiting for Tuesday to see how to proceed from there,” she said.
Amnesty International thinks there has been a significant spike in the number of killings by security operatives in the country. “This year has seen a spike in the number of people killed by security personnel in areas of conflicts and even in cases of suspicions of armed robbery and other crimes. For long, Nigerian security agencies have not been respecting the rights of Nigerians,” Isa Sanusi, the Media Manager of Amnesty International Abuja, said.
“For years, they’ve acted with impunity and they always resort to torture and other forms of human rights violation in dealing with even cases of civil disagreement. This year saw the loudest outcry of Nigerians against SARS and there were alleged killings by this police special squad,” he said.
Over the course of last year, a social media protest against the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), has been trending under the hashtag #EndSARS. The unit has been alleged to have been conducting their operations with gross impunity, harassing and intimidating Nigerians going about their lawful business. The protests spilled to the streets and led to a petition signed by 10,000 people to be forwarded to the National Assembly.
Referring to “evidence of growing impunity” among security forces in the country, Sanusi called on the Nigerian government to take tough action to curb these killings.
“We always call on the authorities to probe all allegations of extra-judicial killings and bring to justice all perpetrators. Until the Nigerian authorities take a firm and decisive stand on violations of human rights, unlawful killing by security personnel will never end,” he said.
– With data compiled by Haruna Ibrahim
