Mamy Lagos residents have at one time
or the other borne the brunt of indiscriminate arrest and extortion by
the police, the agency constitutionally empowered to protect the
populace.
Last week, a newspaper reported that a
young man on an errand was unjustly arrested by the police from the
Ogudu Area Command at the Old Toll Gate area of Lagos in broad daylight
(12.33pm). A woman, whose brother had suffered the same fate a few days
earlier and had tried to come to his rescue by asking why he was being
arrested, was promptly rewarded with a slap.
In another wanton display of abuse of
power, policemen arrested many innocent Nigerians in different parts of
Oshodi on May 2 for “wandering” and other minor offences. One hundred
and sixty-two of them were jailed by the Lagos State Special Offences
Court sitting in Alausa, with no legal defence available to them before
they were hastily tried and imprisoned. Some of them, who had proper
identification, were nabbed while returning from work but found
themselves later in Kirikiri Prisons, where they will spend a minimum of
90 days!
One of those affected, a
clothes-seller named Ben Odimegwu, 19, lamented, “I had just finished
packing my clothes at about 10pm and was about going home when I saw
some people running away from task force officials. I was arrested with
many others and taken to Alausa. When we were taken to the court, they
read our offences to us. I did not even understand what they read. I
pleaded guilty thinking that they would leave me. Every other person in
my batch also pleaded guilty. I didn’t know it would land me here
(Kirikiri) because I had never been to court before.” This is really
reprehensible.
At the root of this malfeasance is
corruption. The Nigeria Police is notoriously corrupt as many local and
international reports have confirmed. Reports by the Human Rights Watch,
the United States Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour and
Transparency International have returned damning verdicts on policing in
Nigeria. The US Bureau, for instance, declared in May 2012, “Police
routinely stopped drivers who did not commit traffic infractions,
refusing to allow them to continue until they paid bribes. The Office of
the Inspector-General of Police attempted to strengthen the Police
Monitoring Unit, which was charged with visiting police stations to
search officers for signs of accepting bribes; however, the unit
remained ineffective and made no arrests by year’s end.” Indeed, the
2012 Presidential Civil Society Organisation Panel on Police Reform in
Nigeria found that corruption is still the number one impediment to the
effective performance of police functions.
It is an irresponsible government
that will continue to treat its own citizens like dogs, as that is what
the current practice by the police strongly suggests. If the nation can
treat foreigners, including the Iranians and the three Lebanese charged
with allegedly importing arms and ammunition illegally into the country
with dignity, by not handcuffing them when they appeared in court, it is
impermissible for the system to be hounding, arresting and jailing
innocent Nigerians for flimsy reasons. Every Nigerian deserves to be
treated fairly and with dignity, as Section 34 of the 1999 Constitution,
as amended, states.
It should be made clear that the
obnoxious “wandering law” security agents hid under in the past to
commit atrocities was abrogated in 1989. Properly replaced by “Minor
Offences (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act”, the new law states, “a person
shall not be accused of or charged with the offence of wandering (by
whatever name called); or a person who is accused of a simple offence
shall not, by reason only of being accused of such offence, be detained
in police or prison custody.” But under the pretence of enforcing laws
on “obstruction,” “breach of (the) peace,” being a “disorderly person,”
and clamping down on crime, the police in Lagos have been acting above
the law. This has had grave consequences for innocent residents, who are
often minors (those under the age of 18 and can’t be jailed) sent on
errands by their parents or guardians. As a result, many innocent,
“voiceless souls” are suffering in silence. Reckless arrest and jailing
of innocent and perhaps minor offenders have the potential of turning
otherwise law-abiding citizens to criminals. The police are, therefore,
liable as they are acting in breach of the law.
This impudence must stop forthwith.
All those arrested and are being held unjustly in the overcrowded prison
system should have their cases reviewed expeditiously. Both the
Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, and Manko must address
this culture of impunity. There is a grave need to put in place a system
that will drastically reduce the abuse of people’s rights and graft by
the police. Fashola, himself a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, should look
into the workings of the Lagos special offences law and the various task
forces so that the arrests of innocent people and those that commit
minor infractions will not compound the overcrowding in our prisons. It
also behoves the Nigeria Bar Association to institute a pro bono system
to help out those being arrested and jailed by reckless law enforcement
officers.
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Good talk,some times i wonder if they police in lagos is diffrent from they one we have in abuja.God must juge them.
ReplyDeleteNigerian police is nothing better than thieves in customize uniform,they don't only extort but harassed innocent unsuspecting youth,they also stylishly returning road blocks on Lagos roads.Governor Babatunde Fashola please come to our aids because the IG will never do anything about it.B'cos if the police that erred in the time past have been seriously dealt with,it will serve as a warning for others.but what we have instead is Nigeria police shielding this corrupt and wicked officers. Another thing to look into is LASTMA extortion of innocent road users.Thanks.
ReplyDeleteThe Madness in the Nation at large gave room to the excesses of the so call police or other officers.You can imagine when a suspect will be arrested in the afternoon and police with give report that the person was arrested at 1am.
ReplyDeleteAll we need is revolution
God help Naija
The police needs a thorough restructuring,they are so uncivilised and know next 2 nothing,they are so reckless,impunity is the order of the day,the state should control the police for effective policing,let the federal relinquish some powers for development to take place.God Bless 9eja.
ReplyDelete