Section 4 of the Police Act, Cap 359, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990 provides that: “ The police shall be employed for the prevention and detection of crime, the apprehension of offenders, the preservation of law and order, the protection of life and property and the due enforcement of all laws and regulations with which they are directly charged and shall perform such military duties within or outside Nigeria as may be required by them, or under the authority of this or any other Act”.
Sadly, rather than carry out one of its mandates of protecting lives, the opposite has been the case, as life is being snuffed out of innocent and defenceless Nigerians across the nation, by police bullets bought with taxes of those killed.
The latest of such killings was that of a 41-year-old pregnant female lawyer, Omobolanle Raheem, in the Ajah area of Lagos, by an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Drambi Vandi, on December 25, 2022.
To think that a similar incident occurred in the same area a week earlier, by a policeman from the same police division as Vandi- Ajiwe Divisional Headquarters, poses a question on the level of professionalism and training of policemen, especially in arms handling.
When to shoot
It also questions policemen’s knowledge of when to use arms. According to Police Force Order 237, a policeman is permitted to ‘shoot’ suspects and detainees who attempt to escape or avoid arrest.
It is therefore unlawful to kill any person unless the such killing is authorised, justified or excused by law, according to Nigeria Criminal law.
Though there have been several arrests of errant cops and their subsequent dismissal from the Nigeria Police Force, for proper prosecution in court, only a few of these cases have had their conclusive end aired in public.
Root causes
A holistic investigation into the remote causes of unlawful police killings showed that apart from the training on weapon handling acquired by recruits during the six months of training at the Police College, a good percentage of them never went to the shooting range to perfect their marksmanship.
Most killings of innocent Nigerians were a clear indication of a lack of excellent focus and good hand-eye coordination which determine the target. Most times these policemen, especially the Rank and Files, during interrogation, revealed that they aimed at a vehicle’s tyre or victim’s legs only to miss the target.
Saturday Vanguard gathered that training at the shooting range is restricted to those in the Mobile Squad and Tactical squads, whereas conventional policemen at the divisions, Area Commands and administrative units never visited the shooting range until they retire.
An instructor at one of the shooting ranges in Ogun state, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said frequent visits to shooting ranges by security agents also promoted mental fortitudes.
He said, “The combination of calculating your distance, breathing, and eyesight when shooting a weapon requires strong mental toughness. It’s not easy to calibrate all the factors when adrenaline is released. Your nerves and stamina will sharpen the more you shoot. One needs to employ problem-solving and discipline to correct any errors or misses”.
Standard operation
Another cause for unlawful killings of Nigerians by policemen is the use of an analogue-based mode of crime prevention, detection and control in the age of technology.
The facial recognition software, for instance, is a technological minus in the NPF. This software is capable of matching a human face from a digital image or a video frame against a database of faces, typically employed to authenticate users through identity verification services.
With this, criminals are easily identified and apprehended, rather than flagging every car down on suspicion and shooting if the driver refuses to stop.
Accommodation
Most times, some of these policemen, especially those in the Rank and File, vent their frustration and disappointment on the civilians they are meant to protect.
While some of them who are not privileged to live in the barracks come from a very far distance from their stations, they immediately report to the roads, fatigued and unable to comport themselves professionally.
Strength constraint
Another major cause for unprofessionalism that results in reckless misfiring by policemen is the dearth of manpower, a constraint that leaves a policeman to over 400 Nigerians, which is a far cry from the United Nations standard for policing which stipulates a ratio of one policeman to 350 to 400 people.
Out of this number, a good percentage of policemen are assigned to protect so-called ‘Very Important Personalities, VIPs, either in the public or private sectors, with some of them treated as domestic workers, leaving the limited number to overstretch themselves, thereby creating operational difficulties.
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a major cause of killings by policemen. Being products of society, some of them had inculcated the habit of drinking into a stupor and taking hard drugs before being recruited into the Nigeria Police Force.
The investigation also showed that some of them get drunk while on duty and accidentally release bullets. Videos of such policemen with rifles sometimes go viral on social media. In some cases, these lightweight policemen even lose their service rifles.
Impunity
Again, some of them carry on with impunity because of the individuals they are attached to as escorts, only to realize too late that they are on their own.
An instance was an accidental discharge by a policeman that led to the death of two guests at a birthday party in the Egbeda area of Lagos, in April 2022.
Two months later, five police escorts to singer Damini Ogulu aka Burna Boy were arrested for shooting two fun seekers: Lawrence Irebami and another simply identified as Tolu, at Club Cubana in the Victoria Island area of Lagos.
Credit: Vanguard
