I watched in horror, a video of an unspeakable act of police brutality. This incident happened at the university town of Ekpoma in Edo State.
Policemen in a van, deliberately ran over a suspect who had been arrested, handcuffed, and forced to lie down in front of the van.
The team of policemen, operating a black Sienna bus provided by the Edo State Government, forcefully dragged and ran over the already handcuffed middle-aged man despite the alarm raised by members of the community. A video of the incident which went viral, showed onlookers gathering around the handcuffed man lying on the ground in front of the police vehicle. The driver then proceeded to crush and drag the man for some meters despite wails and shouts from the crowd.
The incident as shown in the video, caused an anguishing uproar from horrified onlookers! The crowd surged to help the man, but they were quickly dispersed by gunshots from the policemen.
In a response to the incident, the Edo State Police Command’s spokesman, Chidi Nwabuzor, issued a press statement confirming that the involved policemen had been arrested. He also stated that the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Dankwara, had called for calm.
The victim was allegedly driving a car without plate number and to solve this alleged breach of the law, all the police could do was to handcuff the culprit, laid him on the floor and run him over with their patrol car.
It was a gruesome incident which calls to question the mental health of those that are recruited into the police.
It was precisely these kinds of brutality that led to the #ENDSARS! All over the country Nigerians are brutalized by men in police uniform with many of the incidents unreported.
The term “police brutality” is sometimes used to refer to various human rights violations by police. This includes beatings, unlawful killings, torture, or indiscriminate use of riot control agents at protests. At its worst, unlawful use of force by police can result in people being deprived of their right to life.
Under international law, police officers should only ever use lethal force as a last resort. Such lethal force is necessary only when it is used to protect the policemen or others from imminent threat of death or serious injury, and only when other options for de-escalation are insufficient.
Many killings by the police that we have seen in Nigeria clearly do not meet these criteria. Take the case of the Ekpoma victim who was driving a car without plate number. What did the law say in such circumstances?
According to the law of Nigeria, you can drive a newly bought car for 3 months without license plates as long as you have the legitimate customs and clearing documents of the car. Whether the car is brand new, tokunbo, or used, there should be proof that shows you just bought the car. Most of the time, a receipt is issued by the seller or a change of ownership documents. During these 3 months, you must be processing your license plates while you drive your car around. However, cars without plates attract law enforcement agencies because they need to be sure that the car has no crime attached to it. Ensuring that a car without plate number has no crime attachement should be a routine check by the police that does not require the kind of brutality that was witnessed in Ekpoma.
On Christmas Day 2022, a female lawyer, Bolanle Raheem, was fatally shot by a police officer in the Ajah area of Lagos. A witness said they were conducting a stop-and-search exercise when the incident happened at Ajah under bridge.
Many Nigerians have been killed by police during stop-and-search because so many in the Force delight in inflicting pains on fellow Nigerians or even killing them.
According to Amnesty International, the most brutalized by the police are young Nigerians, especially those between the ages of 18 and 25. They told Amnesty International how they were accused of fraud and arrested by police officers, mostly along the street, at public viewing centres or in their homes.
Amnesty International has documented cases where police officers raided public places, including pubs, which are frequented by young men. In many of these cases, the victims were arbitrarily arrested and detained in a cell, upon failure to pay money requested by police officers. A 25-year-old man told Amnesty International how he was accosted by four officers at Olu Obasanjo Way, Port Harcourt, who took him in their vehicle and drove to the nearby police station, where the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) openly told him that if he had no cash, he should take them to the ATM to withdraw money for them. The young man in question was lucky he had money in his account, because many unlucky youths had been tortured and killed in similar circumstances. That is not supposed to be the case.
Nigeria is a party to multiple treaties declaring the absolute prohibition of torture, including the Convention against Torture (CAT) that places an obligation on states to take effective measures to prevent acts of torture in their jurisdiction. Nigeria’s Constitution also prohibits torture, and the Anti-Torture Act imposes a penalty of up to 25 years imprisonment for perpetrators. There are legal safeguards against arbitrary arrest and detention and mechanisms for oversight of the NPF. Yet, the use of torture is still widespread, demonstrating the apathy of Nigerian authorities regarding the implementation of legal standards. Previous attempts at police reform by presidential panels and independent committees under successive administrations have yet to yield results because of a lack of political will to implement recommendations fully.
What can the new acting inspector general of police Kayode Egbetokun do about this? He should ensure that under his leadership, perpetrators of human rights violations are brought to justice.
Identified cases of extrajudicial executions, torture and ill-treatment that have caused death or severe injury must be the subject of independent, prompt, impartial and thorough investigations, and officers reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility must be brought to justice. This must include superior officers who knew or should have known of officials under their command resorting to the unlawful use of force and firearms, if they did not take all measures in their power to prevent, suppress or report such use. Complaints about the conduct of police officers – whether they come from members of the public, from supervisors or from colleagues should be investigated thoroughly. Those who file complaints should be confident that they will be supported and if necessary, protected against reprisals. Members of the public should have the assurance that their complaints will be taken seriously and that they will not suffer for having lodged them. Ensure that investigations concerning cases of human rights violations are concluded and suspected perpetrators brought to justice. Families and victims of human rights violations must have access to justice and effective remedy.
He should ensure that all police officers receive training based on human rights standards compliant practices. All police officers should receive training and re-training on human rights compliant practices. They must fully understand that acts such as arbitrary arrests and detention, deaths in custody, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, as well as excessive use of force, are violations of human rights and strictly prohibited. Senior officers should also receive this training. Such a move would increase the level of professional and personal training of the police. The authorities should continue to provide on-the-job training and ensure that such training is coupled with careful supervision, through which officers are given clear instructions concerning the use of force and firearms, and are closely monitored. Officers must understand that the use of firearms is limited to defence against an imminent threat to life or of serious injury, and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve this objective. Senior officers should be provided with training on how to monitor the use of force and firearms by those under their supervision.
He should also ensure that the provisions of the Anti-Torture Act 2017 are enforced and all complaints of torture by police must be the subject of independent, prompt, impartial and thorough investigation, and those reasonably suspected of criminal responsibility must be brought to justice, in line with the provisions of the Act.
MAY NIGERIA REBOUND