‘Police is your friend’ is a cliché many who have lived all their lives in Nigeria are very familiar with. It became popular when the Nigeria Police embarked on spirited efforts to win some modicum of acceptability from the Nigerian public who perceive them more as enemies than as friends.
Not a few Nigerians who have had an encounter with the men and officers of the Nigeria Police or other law enforcement agents have pleasant tales to tell. In fact, many of these tales paint these law enforcement agents in harsh colours and as institutions that thrive in contradiction of its claim to being a friend of the people.
No period validates this ugly perception of our law enforcement agents than in this period of the federal government lockdown order aimed at checkmating the spread of COVID-19.
Brutality by our law enforcement agents has in recent times drawn national and international condemnation. In a recent report by Nigeria’s National Human Rights Commission reveals that since the federal government ordered lockdown began on 30 March, “Law enforcers have killed 18 people in different parts of the country”. In total, the Commission said it received more than 100 complaints across 24 of Nigeria’s 36 states – including Lagos, Ogun and Abuja of unbridled brutality by law enforcement agents during the period.
In another report by the United Nations Human Rights Commission, the Commission “warned that countries flouting the rule of law in the name of fighting the novel coronavirus pandemic risk sparking a “human rights disaster”.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet called on countries to refrain from violating fundamental rights “under the guise of exceptional or emergency measures”.
Brutality against the civilian populace by law enforcement agents is a universal phenomenon, and it calls to question the mental and psychological health of our law enforcement agents. We at Community Bell advocate a periodic check on the mental and psychological of these men and officers entrusted with the onerous task of securing lives and property, yet have become agents of gross human rights violation and killers of those they a paid to protect.
If this is a case of transferred aggression borne out of their inhuman work conditions or some systemic flaws, we urge the federal government to review these work conditions and save the civilian populace from continually bearing the brunt of these systemic flaws.
Again, we advocate an urgent review of the curriculum for training aspiring police officers to include courses on modern policing techniques, as well as the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights and the United Nations Charter on Human Rights. Knowledge of these international human rights instruments should help checkmate the excessive use of inhuman techniques and behaviours when relating the civilian populace.
Nigeria’s police have a bad reputation for brutality, extortion and harassment, we hope the government will take drastic steps to reform the Nigeria police with a view to giving the police a human face.
