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obafemius@yahoo.com Ashburton, New Zealand

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APO, NIGERIAN POLICE AND EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS

he kerfuffle that follows the extrajudicial killings of six Apo Mechanic village traders in Abuja by men of the Nigeria Police Force is yet to be resolved. We know all along that the police authority were lying when the Commissioner of Police for Abuja branded them as armed robbers who engaged the police in a gun fight. These are innocent men and woman who were out to enjoy themselves before they were murdered by the Sunday Ehindero Police in Abuja. Although the motive for the killing is still very murky the story was that the six people, five men and a woman were travelling in a car that allegedly collided with the car of the Divisional Police Officer for Abuja. In the ensuing argument the police boss thought it was insulting for ordinary civilian to talk back to him and subsequently pulled his pistol and shot four of them to death instantly. The murder was so gruesome and brazen that the only survivor of the initial attack was tracked down by the police and shot to death in the presence of witnesses.

When we think of police brutality, what comes to mind is trigger happy, undisciplined disgruntled low ranking police constable manning the police "toll gate "aka checkpoint. Usually in such circumstances you look forward to talking to a more experienced senior police officer from the rank of inspector and above to settle any misunderstanding you may have with the junior constables. How wrong could that thought be? In the Apo killing, it is the senior police officer that actually pulled the trigger and terminated innocent lives. This is a testimonial to what majorities of Nigerians have known all along that the rank and file of the Nigeria police is sick. The very foundation and fabric of the Police force in Nigeria is in urgent need of reformation. Nigerians cannot count the number of innocent young people that have been sent to untimely death by the police because of twenty Naira extortion from motorist.

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Immediately after the killing the police spin-doctors were out with their usual cliché and outlandish excuses. They quickly labelled the six people armed robbers. The police squad went to the extent of shooting into there own squad car as disguise for gun shot attack coming from murdered Apo six. They organised for a police photographer to photograph the corpse with fake gun by their sides. Members of the Nigeria Police believe they have the constitutional right to kill armed robbers and engaged in extrajudicial killings of perceived offenders. What happened to innocence until proven guilty? Nigerians and the media in Nigeria will need to to change their orientation and perception on police parading armed robbers on TV before conviction in a law court. Police in Nigeria have until now hidden under the guise of killings armed robbers to carry out numerous extrajudicial killings

Why will a bunch of police officers be so audacious to commit such a gruesome murder as the killing of six innocent people? What could be the real motive behind this killing? We should probably start from what we know before venturing into what we don't know. We know that the killing was deliberate and not accidental discharge, which is another favourable cliche of the police for extrajudicial killing. We also know that it was not due to refusal of the six people to offer bribe. It is very difficult to know what is in the mind of a killer and we may never know why this group of policemen decided to terminate human lives.

Many people have cited lack of proper training, lack of adequate and humane welfare packages for the police, ineffective screening and enlistment of criminal into the police force as some of the factors contributing to police insensitivity, lack of respect and civility for the people whom they serve. However the problem goes beyond aforementioned excuses. The Nigeria police force has been politicised. Policemen are hired by transformed terrorist who called themselves politicians to kill and maim their opponents. Police officers in Nigeria see themselves as lord to be worshipped and not as servant. They are quick to forget they are indeed servant and set up to protect lives and property. The police see the nonchalant attitude of the Nigerian government to the numerous politically motivated killings in the country and the perpetrators walking free in the society.

Recently an American high school graduate was discovered missing in Aruba, a former Nertherland Colony. She had gone with the rest of her graduating class for holiday and partying. As at the time of writing her whereabouts is still not known; but the President of Aruba is loosing sleep trying to help the local law enforcement agency in unravelling the mystery. The attitude of the Aruba government when it comes to law and order contrast sharply to the Nigeria government. In Aruba and the rest of the civilised democratic world the government looses sleep when a high profile murder is not solved, while in Nigeria unsolved high profile murder mounts every day without and it is business as usual in Abuja. The Nigeria government, military or civilian seems unconcerned about extrajudicial killings and murders that grace the pages of our daily papers and television.

What does these names have in common? Dele Giwa, Marshal Harry, Aminasori Dikibo, Alfred Rewane, Bola Ige, etc. They are not from the same tribe or political class but all of them were murdered by "unknown assassin" and the murderers are still out there possibly enjoying the protection of the power that be. In other countries the government will be worried about its national and international reputation over unsolved murders but in Nigeria political and extrajudicial killings is encouraged by unsolved previous murders. Corruption and lawlessness is the other of the day in Africa's most populous country. Politicians and high government functionaries are using the Police to rig elections and settle political differences by eliminating their political enemies.

Police men and women are indirectly encouraged to take the law into there hands, kill at will and with the slightest provocation having themselves witnessed how politicians, political and military leaders have used the police to eliminate their opponents. The Apo killing is bewildering and frightening. It used to be police killing one at a time but now killing six people at once is bizarre and shameful. It is the lowest depth the Nigeria police can descend into. Who is ever going to believe the police on armed robbers again? Sometimes I wondered why the judges in Nigeria believe the testimony of the police. The police are accustomed to lying and getting away with it. They would have succeeded this time also except for the outrage of the victims' family, lawyers and the Nigerian public.

Nigeria police needs reform and the answer is not in the Nigeria police force. Sunday Ehindero the acting Inspector General cannot reform the Nigeria Police, neither can any police officer past nor present reform this colossal mess. They are all part of the culture of corruption and indiscipline. An example is the disgraced ex-Inspector General of Police, Tafa Balogun. We need external help to reform the police. I do not think Nigerians can handle the job of reformation alone, we will need help from stable democracy abroad. After all Nigeria is thinking of hiring a foreign soccer coach and technical adviser to help with the Green Eagles, Virgin Airways to bear Nigeria's name and rescue us from the elephant called Nigeria Airways, and in times past hired a foreign agency to run our post office and railway. There is no reason why we can not do similar thing with the police.

Some of us who live abroad have seen how courteous police officer can and should be. In New Zealand, Police officers are very polite and civil; they are not above the law and in fact are subject to the same traffic rule like any citizen while on duty driving official police car. There are instances of police officer in police official car being cited for traffic offences. This is one of the countries the Nigeria government can look up to for help. We can not continue to live in fear of those who are supposed to protect us. I hope the Nigerian President will make sure that men of the police force who killed the six people in Apo Abuja face the wrath of the law. If there is a cover up and judgment is denied we can expect the police to kill probably twelve innocent people at once next time under the pretence of killing armed robbers because they know nobody cares.

However, the people in government should know that the next victim could be their family member or even the President's family. When Tafa Balogun was the Inspector General he probably ignored numerous complaints against police brutality. Now he is facing police brutality himself, he was recently roughly manhandled and beaten by the police as he appeared in an Abuja court to face corruption trial. There are reports that his leg might have been broken during the fracas. The buck stops at Mr President's table.