Food
For Thought:
‘’First
they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out, because I was not a
Socialist. Then they came for the Trade Unionists, and I did not speak out, because
I was not a Trade Unionist. Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak
out, because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me, and there was no one to
speak for me’’. – Martin Niemöller
Scores
of Nigerians die untimely, yearly due to extra-judicial killings usually by overzealous
Nigerian security operatives and through gunshot injuries. Aside from the ‘’collateral
damages’’ and factual extra-judicial killing of Boko Haram suspects sequel to
the ongoing counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency operations in North-East
Nigeria,
Nigeria’s erstwhile Attorney-General of the Federation and
Minister of Justice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, reportedly accused the Nigeria Police Force of being responsible for not less than
7, 108 deaths in the last four years as at December 2012.
The AGF reeled out
the statistics of the unlawful killings at the ‘’Dialogue on Torture,
Extra-judicial Killings and National Security’’ conference organized by the
Nigerian Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in Abuja. He accused the police of
relying on Police Force Order 237 to commit extra-judicial killings, and noted that
out of the 7,108 killed, 2,500 were detainees awaiting trial.
Typical Unresolved Cases
of Extra-judicial Killings, Gunshot Victims In Nigeria
In
what became infamous as ‘’The Apo Six’’, in June 2005, five young male traders
and a female student (Miss Augusta Arebu) were allegedly and brutally felled by
a Police officer, one DCP Ibrahim Danjuma at Abuja, Nigeria’s capital. Ten
years after this heinous crime against humanity, the criminal trial of the
mastermind is stuck. On February 25, 2013, two students of the Nassarawa State
University were allegedly murdered by Nigerian soldiers and police. Sometime in
June 2013, dozens of bodies of supposed victims of extra-judicial killing were
found dumped and floating inside Ezu River in Anambra State, South East
Nigeria. Characteristic of such events in Nigeria, nothing has been heard of
the aforementioned incidents till date. Swept under the carpet, it is business
as usual. Lately, a trigger-happy MOPOL (Mobile Police) personnel purportedly
attached to Maroko Police Station in Lagos State, allegedly shot dead one Ms
Beauty McLeod, a tennis star in cold blood after an altercation between the
policeman and the deceased. It was reported that a couple of hospitals/clinics refused
to admit, treat the deceased ab initio. By the time she was taken a medical facility
that accepted her, she was said to have lost so much blood and died. Just
recently, Punch newspaper reported an incident where a police corporal, one Yinka
Oloko attached to SARS (Special Anti-Robbery Squad) shot his wife
dead somewhere in Egbeda, Lagos state due to the trite alibi of ‘’accidental
discharge’’. Corporal Yinka was said to have shot his wife dead while trying to
remove his pistol from the holster having retired home after the day’s
assignment. These deaths are avoidable, preventable. The last incident reinforces
the urgency for the Nigeria police to adopt very stringent weapon handling chain
of custody. It is unethical for policemen to recklessly brandish weapons while dressed
in mufti or to return to their rented apartments with loaded weapons. These scenarios
and others too numerous to chronicle herein, necessitated this piece, an
advocacy to rein in extra-judicial killings in Nigeria and for unfettered right
to treatment and care of gunshot victims in Nigeria.
Nigeria’s Archaic Firearms Act, A Clog
On The Wheel
Notwithstanding
the directive of Nigeria’s Inspector General of police – Mr. Solomon Arase in
August 2015 urging medical professionals to treat accident and gunshot victims
without seeking police clearance, the practice of insisting that victims’ first
present evidence of police clearance before treatment subsists in many parts of
Nigeria, especially in remote parts of the country. This this blamed on the provision
of Nigeria’s ‘’Robbery and firearms (Special Provision) Act, Cap 398 of 1984’’
which seem to stipulate that medical professionals must request, obtain from
gunshot victims, evidence of police clearance before they can attend to them. There
is no gainsaying reiterating the fact that mandating gunshot victims to first
seek and present a police report before they can be treated is to say the least, anachronistic, not in
tandem with global best practice and has led to the untimely death of countless
innocent gunshot victims. More so, the refusal of medical practitioners to
treat gunshot victims clearly negates the universal ethics and oaths of the medical
profession (to save lives) which every medical practitioner swears to uphold.
Right To Life Is Inalienable
We
are reminded that the right to life is an inalienable right enshrined in
Article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right which expressly states
that, ‘’every human being has inherent right to life, that this right shall be
protected by law and that no one shall be arbitrarily deprived of his life’’. Save
for the execution of the sentence of a court in respect of criminal offences
where a culprit has been found guilty and exhausted legal options available to
him and a couple of exceptions – while suppressing a riot et al, Chapter Four
of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution guarantees this extant and undeniable right to
life of a human being.
Our Demands And Recommendations
Beyond
the proclamation of the Police Boss which does not seem to have percolated
across the nook and cranny of Nigeria (especially in remote parts of the
country), we enjoin Nigeria’s National Assembly (the Senate and the House of
Representatives) to harmonize and expedite passage of the ‘’Bill for an Act to
make provisions for the compulsory treatment and care for the victims of
gunshot and other matters connected therewith’’ which is sponsored by a
Nigerian lawmaker – Nkiruka Onyejeocha. We also call for quick dispensation of
justice in Nigeria. A situation where an accused remains on detention awaiting
trial for ten or more years is a slap on Nigeria’s criminal justice system.
The
primary responsibility of any government and by extension, the security
agencies world-over, is the preservation, protection of lives and properties,
not indiscriminate extra-judicial killing of innocent folks. Nigerians
appreciate the sacrifices and the onerous task our security operatives are
encumbered with in discharging their duties. We implore the security agencies
to routinely train and retrain its personnel on weapon handling best practices
to forestall so-called unacceptable and spurious incidents of ‘’accidental
discharge’’. Given the haziness and mass ignorance on existent provision of
treatment of gunshot victims in Nigeria, we also enjoin Nigeria’s National
Orientation Agency, Civil Society Groups (NGOs) to bring this Cause to the
front burner to forestall continued avoidable loss of lives in Nigeria. Ongoing
public awareness and enlightenment campaigns in this regard will do a lot of
good.
Interestingly,
the Nigeria police now calls on the public to hold it accountable and
responsible. The Police recently launched its ICT compliant, multi-platform
Complaint Response Unit, a department that handles in real time,
queries, complaints and concerns about unprofessional conducts of errant or unscrupulous
officers and men of the Nigeria police. For information on how to lodge a
complaint or to seek any information from the Nigeria Police, kindly read up my
article: ‘’Nigerians, Let’s Hold The Police Responsible And Accountable Through
The Complaint Response Unit
(CRU)’’
Be
a voice for the voiceless! Do something! Take back humanity!
Written
by:
© Don Okereke
November, 2015
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Bio:
Don Okereke is a passionate, innovative, Information Technology, Social
Media-Savvy and proven Security Analyst/Consultant, researcher, writer/blogger,
and change agent with over 17 years combined Military (Air Force),
Private/Industrial Security, entrepreneurial, management skills/experience
distilled from Nigeria and the United kingdom. Don loves entrepreneurship and
is the Founder/CEO of Forenovate Technologies Limited (RC 755695). His interest and expertise span Security/Safety/ICT/Cultural
Awareness Training, Threat/Travel Advisory, Risk Assessments & mitigation, Security
survey/mapping, Loss/Fraud Prevention, Due Diligence and Investigations, Executive/Asset Protection, Business
Continuity & Emergency Planning, Background Screening/Vetting, Competitive Intelligence, Research and Open-Source
Intelligence (OSINT) Information Retrieval, Countering Violent Extremism Advocacy
and Public Speaking, amongst others. Don has featured on conferences/seminars
as a Guest Speaker and he is routinely consulted by foreign, local,
print/electronic organizations for his expert opinion on issues impinging
national, personal security and geopolitics. His passion, knack for writing has
seen his articles published on major Nigerian newspapers such The Guardian, The
Nation, NewsWatch, Tell Magazine and various reputable local and foreign social
media/online platforms. Don’s loves humanity; disappointed with the rampaging
insecurity, terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria, he took it upon himself to
champion an Advocacy Cause against vestiges of insecurity under the aegis of ‘’Nigerians
Unite Against Insecurity and Terrorism’’ and ‘’Say No To
Terrorism and Insurgency’’.
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