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Nigeria: Bakare Speaks Against Human Rights Abuse By Nigerian Police

Concerned Nigerian in Diaspora, Olusola Bakare has condemned the abuse of human rights by officers of the Nigerian police force, who according to him, ought to be at the frontier of protecting lives and property in the country.

Bakare in a statement Saturday, titled ‘Nigeria Police, Our Unfriendly Friend’ noted that, It was ironical and disheartening to note that despite Nigeria’s allegiance to several international treaties, “the rising cases of human rights abuse have fearfully become daily experiences for Nigerians who have become so acclimatized to human rights abuse.

“The Nigeria Police, established to prevent and detect crimes, to apprehend offenders, to maintain law and order, to protect property and to enforce all laws and regulations – being the principal enforcer of laws in Nigeria, boasts of the largest workforce with 36 State commands grouped into 12 Zones, each headed by an Assistant Inspector General (AIG) and 7 administrative organs. The overall head of the NPF is Inspector General of Police (IGP).

“Every responsible government must, as one of its cardinal responsibilities, ensure the safety of life and property of its citizens.

“According to section 14(2) (b) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, ‘the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.’

“Hence, it is through an establishment and maintenance of a well-organized and effective police force that the government performs this responsibility and provides a feeling of security to its citizens.”

“Haven been part of the relevant international treaties especially on human rights which include: the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, 1948, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) 1966, International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) 1966, International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, the International Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989 and the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel among others.

“It is however ironical and disheartening to note that despite Nigeria’s allegiance to these international treaties, especially the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 and the United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, the rising cases of human rights abuse have fearfully become daily experiences for Nigerians who have become so acclimatized to human rights abuse,” he said.

Bakare likewise said the strange perception of the Nigerian police by Nigerians is prompted by the incessant rate of human rights abuses which always involve the police against the citizens.

He noted that the military was also culpable in human rights abuses in Nigeria. Human rights violations started in the days of the military in Nigeria.

“Cases of police brutality and violation of Nigerians’ human rights have indeed formed one of the ugly developments that have been exported outside the shores of Nigeria.

“In one of its recent reports, Amnesty International (AI) reported that in Nigeria, police officers have turned civilians into subjects of extortion, rape, torture and killings. The report added that sufferers of these crimes still wait endlessly for justice because the law against torture of civilians meant to provide justice, is not being enforced.

“It is heart-breaking that survivors of police brutality have risked everything to tell their stories and seek justice, while the relatives of those who have died, suffered the same fate. The AI urged Nigerians to take action to end impunity and demand the reform of the Nigeria Police.

“On April 30, 2018, one Ugochukwu, a 32-year-old trader, was arrested at his shop by the police on the allegation that he paid a gang whose members had been blackmailing him. His arrest was one without a warrant.

“One would have expected that the police would perform their civic duties to help Ugochukwu trace his blackmailers, arrest them and bring them to justice. But, no! Instead, of the police to do that, they felt Ugochukwu had committed an offence by paying his blackmailers hence, the need to arrest him.

“The police officers requested him to part with a huge sum of N20,000,000.00 ($40,000) to free him. Ugochukwu was detained and tortured for six days. A mock execution was staged to break and force him to pay.

“Still reluctant to yield to their threats, the police officers told him that they would end his life should he refused further to make the payment. They blindfolded, handcuffed and pushed him inside a car. The police officers drove around for more than two hours before he was abandoned near a borrow pit inside the bush.

“The police officers drew their guns and pointed them at him. Sensing that the officers could play out their threats especially at such a highly secluded place, Ugochukwu begged for his life as the leader of the police squad ordered for Ugochukwu’s execution.

“He heard the sound of rapid gunshots and passed out. By the time he finally came around, he found himself in the car and policemen returned him to the cell. They told him point-blank that he would not be so lucky next time.

“Eventually, Ugochukwu had to pay N6,000,000.00 ($6,000) to the officers the next day before he could be released.

This is just one case too many.”

Bakare added that, for years, heap cases have been reported by the human rights organizations and the media who have documented incessant extrajudicial killings, torture, and other atrocities committed by officers of the Nigeria Police with nothing to come out of the reportage despite the existence of the law criminalizing torture which was passed in December 2017.

“Officers of the Nigeria Police Force are infamous for torture and extrajudicial killings. The recent death of Hamilton Osahenhen Obazee who was arrested and allegedly tortured to death by police officers on March 6, 2020 in Edo State, sparked several demonstrations to demand the end of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), an organ of the Nigeria Police known for its gross abuse of young Nigerians.

“Many at times, one wonders if officers of the Nigeria Police are ever taken through modern policing practices as brutality, use of torture as interrogative technique and other wanton abuses of human rights have commonly been employed by them against Nigerians.

“In reality, the use of these inhuman and violent techniques has attracted public abhorrence, scorn, and condemnation to the Force by the Nigerians. Torture, being one of the most extreme forms of violence, resulting in both psychological and physical injuries, is sometimes considered as an indispensable interrogation mechanism for gathering strategic intelligence.”

Quoting AI, Bakare said, despite state proscriptions against torture and custodial misconduct by the police, torture has been reported as being regularly used by the police across Nigeria, which is a major reason behind the death of many suspects in police custody.

Also, Bakare quoted a publication in 2016, by Punch Newspaper alluding that, from being “worried by the incessant reports of systemic human rights abuses by men of the Police Force, an ex-IGP, Ibrahim Idris, while in office, once warned the police officers against torture and extra-judicial killings, saying ‘no policeman in the world had the right or authority to kill crime suspects.

“He admonished them to always respect the right of every Nigerian, noting that this was the way they could change the negative public perception about them. Police detainees are held in a variety of locations, including a grim detention centre in Abuja known as the ‘Abattoir’, where Amnesty International found 130 detainees living in overcrowded cells.’

Bakare said, despite public outcry against the systemic police brutality and its perpetual effects on Nigerians, it is unfortunate that the police are undeterred.

“It is disbelieving that the lives of Nigerians do not matter to the police that should supposedly be protecting them. Police protection of the citizens has become so unpopular among Nigerians because the Force is working in direct opposite of its core establishment purposes.

“Just weeks back, the embattled former acting Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Ms. Joi Nunieh escaped police brutality by the whisker as she would have been forcefully abducted by the police if not for the timely intervention of Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

“You may be aware that the brutality and barbarity with which George Floyd in faraway the United States of America was murdered are negligible compared to the gruesome extra-judicial executions and brutality by police in Nigeria.

“These cases and how innocent civilians in Nigerians are habitually being extorted, raped, tortured, and killed on daily basis by police officers who are members of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) have largely been part of the documentations of Amnesty International.”

In issues of arrests as constitutionally provided, Bakare said, “If the policeman fails to sufficiently identify himself, then the citizen is not obliged to submit himself for a search or questioning.

“Any person who is arrested or detained should have the right to remain silent or avoid answering any question from the police until after consultation with his lawyer.

“More so, any person who is arrested or detained should be informed in writing within 24 hours in the language in which he understands the facts and grounds for his arrest or detention.

“And where a person has been arrested either to charge him to a court or upon the reasonable commission of an offence, such a person should be charged to court within a reasonable time not exceeding 48 hours, failure of which he should be granted bail pending appeal.

“Lawyers and human rights activists, social analysts and journalists complain every day about police officers regularly demanding bribes, stealing, extorting money and engaging in different forms of brutality and abuse of rights.

“It saddens the heart that there are not many empirical studies to detail the manner of abuse and systematic brutality that arrestees are exposed to while in police custody.

“This may largely be due to the difficulty in gathering data on the subject matter from police departments across the country as a result of the “culture of silence” with which such matters are treated in our society.