RIGHTS-NIGERIA: Activists Target Alleged Extra-Judicial Killings

By Sam Olukoya Reprint | | Print |

Sam Olukoya

LAGOS, Jul 20 2004 (IPS) - “Kill and go”: this is the nickname that has been given to Nigeria’s mobile police unit. Its members have an alleged propensity to gun down people at the slightest provocation, then walk away unconcerned.

“Kill and go”: this is the nickname that has been given to Nigeria’s mobile police unit. Its members have an alleged propensity to gun down people at the slightest provocation, then walk away unconcerned.

The reputation of other police units is scarcely better. Almost on a daily basis, Nigerians hear reports of people shot dead either by the mobile or regular police.

Damian Ugwu, head of the Law Enforcement Project at the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Nigeria’s largest human rights group, says death in detention also appears to be a problem. “We have cases of people that were arrested alive, and then the next thing we hear is that some of them have been killed,” he notes.

Although Nigeria made the transition from military to civilian rule in 1999, allegations of extra-judicial killings by officials continue to plague the country.

“We have estimated (that there are) an average of five extra-judicial killings per day in Nigeria…That includes people killed by vigilante groups and cult groups, especially in the Niger Delta (in southern Nigeria). But most of these killings are carried out by security agents like the police, soldiers, the navy and the state security service,” says Ugwu.

Recent instances of alleged extra-judicial killings involving the force include the case of Daddy Benu, a final year mechanical engineering student from the University of Port Harcourt in south-eastern Nigeria. He was shot dead during an argument with policemen.

In Nigeria’s commercial hub of Lagos, an air force employee was shot dead during the arrest of persons smoking marijuana – while in the south-western state of Ogun, a police officer shot and killed his neighbour after an argument.

Certain incidents may result from the heat of the moment. But, the CLO fears that other alleged extra-judicial killings in Nigeria are officially sanctioned – notably those which occur during large security operations. As examples of this, it points to the deaths of civilians in the Niger Delta village of Odi in 1999 – and an incident in the central town of Zaki Biam in 2001. In both instances, the soldiers accused of killing civilians were acting on government orders to fish out criminals.

Ola Doifie, a Lagos-based human rights activist, says that in many instances the victims of such operations are women, the old and the ill – who find it impossible to leave the area.

“When soldiers invade any community, because the women are not able to run as fast as the men, they are not able to defend themselves. They are the first casualties and the worst hit,” he claims.

Ugwu says extra judicial killings have continued unabated in Nigeria since the country’s return to democratic rule because high-ranking officials rarely hold their subordinates accountable for such acts.

However, Chris Olakpe, Nigeria’s police spokesman, dismisses these claims.

“That is not true and it is the wrong premise for an argument. The head of Nigeria’s police has at several meetings with the rank and file of the police made it clear that any policeman found guilty of human rights violations will be dismissed from the force,” he says.

Olakpe adds that measures taken by the police have helped curb the abusive tendencies of certain officers – and that those found to have engaged in violations are made to face the law, as a deterrent to other potential offenders.

“All police stations now have human rights desks which handle cases of human rights violations involving the police,” he notes.

But, this hasn’t stopped the CLO from launching a campaign against extra-judicial killings: the ‘National Alert on Torture and Extra-Judicial Killings in Nigeria’ (NATEK).

Those who join the campaign will be educated about national and international human rights instruments that deal with torture and extra-judicial killings.

Once a report on an extra-judicial killing has been verified, NATEK members plan to write letters to the relevant officials as a gesture of protest. The CLO hopes this will put pressure on government to order thorough, prompt and impartial investigations into all cases of torture and extra-judicial killings.

The organisation also hopes to ensure that perpetrators of these crimes are brought to book, and their victims adequately compensated.

Mohammed Jamiu, who was shot by the police in Lagos early last year, says NATEK has his support. Authorities showed little sympathy for his plight after the shooting incident, he adds.

“My family was responsible for the entire cost of my medical treatment. Also, no disciplinary measure was taken against the policeman. In matters like this, you can be sure the police will always support their own.”

Ugwu says the response from Nigerians to the new campaign has been heartening: “We have been receiving telephone calls and letters from all over the country and these cut across every segment of the society, even soldiers and policemen.” However, businesses have yet to throw their weight behind NATEK.

“Unfortunately we have not had any response from corporate organisations…The reason is that here most organisations, especially those that are seeking government patronage, feel that associating with a project like this might put them in the wrong books of the authorities,” adds Ugwu.