THE media has been awash with recent spine chilling reports of extrajudicial killing by some officers and men of the Nigerian police. These reports include a police sergeant in Lagos who abandoned his duty post on Boxing Day for a beer parlour where he killed three innocent young Nigerians who did not acquiesce to his request for free beer while on duty. Other episodes include the alleged extrajudicial killing of Mr Chibuike Edeh who was in the custody of officers of the Nigerian police Edo state command and Mr Gbenga Omolo who was in the custody of the officers of the Nigerian police Ondo state command. Some officers of the Nigerian police have also been victims of this menace in the hands of their colleagues. Nigerians have not forgotten the killing of a senior police officer, the former aide-de-camp to the immediate past governor of Delta state by a colleague.
There are also reports of the killing of innocent Nigerian bystanders by overzealous policemen who fired warning shots at social events. These sad stories confirm the comprehensive report by Amnesty International in her 2009 report on “killing at will, extra judicial executions and other unlawful killing by the police in Nigeria”. Excerpts from the report reveal that “the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) is responsible for hundreds of extrajudicial executions, other unlawful killing and enforced disappearance every year. The majority of cases go uninvestigated and unpunished.
The families of the victims usually have no recourse to justice or redress”. A 2010 report, “Everyone’s in on the Game-Corruption and human rights abuses by the Nigerian police force” issued by the United States based organization, Human Rights Watch indicate that “several cases of extrajudicial killing by the Nigerian police are linked to failed attempts to extort money, while the victims were either in police detention within a police station, or at police checkpoints after commercial minibus drivers failed to pay the money illegally demanded by the police”. The culprits involved in this menace cut across the junior and senior cadre of the Nigerian police.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines mental health as a “state of well-being in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to her or his community”. Nigeria is still grappling with the problem of insufficient mental health professionals, inadequate resource allocation to mental health and poor access of majority of the mentally ill to centres where they can be treated.
The police are an important component of the criminal justice system. According to Wikipedia extra judicial killing is “the killing of a person by governmental authorities’ without the sanction of any judicial proceeding or legal process. The menace of extrajudicial killing by officers and men of the Nigerian police is the end point in a continuum of human rights abuses perpetrated by the police. There seem to be no valid estimate of the prevalence of extrajudicial killing by the Nigerian police, however on face value the phenomenon appears to be on the increase. Towards this end the conduct of an audit on extrajudicial killings by officers of the Nigerian police is desirable. An audit will reveal the predictors, prevalence and correlates of extrajudicial killing by officers of the Nigerian police. The findings from such an audit will assist in the development and implementation of effective strategies aimed at curbing the menace.
It must be mentioned that extrajudicial killing by the police is a worldwide phenomenon, thus the Nigerian police should explore the use of technology e.g the use of body cameras as a means of curbing the menace of extrajudicial killing by its officers and men. As our democratic experience as a nation grows, Nigerians will demand for better ethical conduct from officers and men of the Nigerian police. We hope and pray that the IGP and his management team will not disappoint Nigerians in this regard.
Extrajudicial killing by the police is often accompanied by public demonstration by relatives and associates of the deceased, thereafter not much is heard about the disposal of such cases albeit bringing the culprits to justice. Most times there is no agency that considers and attempts to address the adverse impact of this sudden and gruesome phenomenon on the mental health of the relatives and close associates of the victims.
The job of policing is stressful, and one reaction to stress is violence against others or against self. Police officers who have undertaken special assignments/duties usually experience some stress and will require some form of therapy to prevent socio-occupational dysfunction. Brown and Campbell in their book on Stress and policing: Sources and strategies reported depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, drug and alcohol abuse, suicide, domestic violence, separation and divorce, burnout, low morale, absenteeism, reduced productivity, reduced efficiency and hostile interactions as some of the possible consequences of police stress. In the light of the foregoing officers who have experienced any of the above phenomena and other critical incidents should be sent for expert medical care by the police authorities.
The public is dismayed each time they hear tales of a physically restrained Nigerian who was killed while “attempting to escape”. Amnesty International claims that some Nigerian police officers hide under the cover of Order 237 to commit extrajudicial killings as the order permits officers to shoot suspects and detainees who attempt to escape or avoid arrest.
Some concerned Individuals have attributed human rights abuse by the Nigerian police, to faulty recruitment process into the service. Dambazau A.B, in his book on criminology and criminal justice reports that a “large percentage of policemen in Nigeria are not vetted upon recruitment into the organization, hence persons of questionable character and in some cases persons with criminal records are recruited”. Reid S.T, in his treatise on criminal justice avers that “successful recruitment of police officers requires more research into the characteristics most highly associated with effective policing”. According to Reid “good policing requires many qualities, including intelligence and the ability to think independently, to perform different roles and function, to comprehend and accept other cultures and subcultures and to understand the importance of freedom and the dangers of abusing authority”.
Other commentators on this menace have adduced poor mental state examination of police applicants as a reason for the rising incidence of extrajudicial killing among the rank and file of the Nigerian police. It is pertinent to mention that officers and men of the police can experience psychiatric illness for the first time while in service as a result of the complex, dangerous, demanding and stressful nature of their job. Finn and Tomz in their article on “Developing a law enforcement stress program for officers and their families” identifies lack of career development, irregular work schedule, human suffering, ineffectiveness of the corrections systems, unfavourable court decisions and ineffectiveness of referral agencies e.t.c as some of the sources of stress experienced by policemen.
It is advocated that henceforth pre-employment procedures for officers and men of the Nigerian police should include thorough background checks, personality tests, polygraph tests, cognitive ability tests and drug screening to exclude the use of psychoactive substances (alcohol,cannabis,heroin,cocaine e.t.c).The latter recommendation is without prejudice to the widely reported funding gap of the Nigerian police which can be overcome by the right political will.
The hasty burial of some victims of extrajudicial killing without the knowledge of their relatives by officers and men of the Nigerian police as reported in the media will not facilitate the normal resolution of the grieving process among the relatives and close associates of the victims. The IGP should ensure that his officers and men are informed of the dictates of the Coroner’s law in Nigeria. Officers and men of the Nigerian police need to be conscious of the fact that all deaths in custody including death in execution of a judgment of court should have an inquest.
The greatest asset of any organization is its human resource; hence the leadership of the Nigerian police should implement strategies to reduce the level of psycho stressors experienced by its officers and men. In addition government should ensure that officers and men of the Nigerian Police that handle firearms are mentally stable. Furthermore the capacity to deliver mental health care services by the Nigerian police medical services, especially to its rank and file should be given a boost.
LAWANI AMBROSE – A Psychiatrist sent in this article from Benin.
