Murder at police checkpoints

CHECKPOINTS are set up to ensure security of life and property, but many innocent citizens have met their untimely ends driving through them. In October last year, a Lagos State High Court presided over by Justice Ibironke Harrison sentenced an Assistant Superintendent of Police, Drambi Vandi, to death by hanging for the killing of Bolanle Raheem, a Lagos-based lawyer, on Christmas Day in 2022. The tragic incident occurred at the Ajah roundabout in Lagos State when Raheem, an expectant mother, was shot at close range while on her way home with her family after a church service. Recently, the Abia State Police Command said that a corporal who shot and killed a businessman in Aba had been taken into custody. The Police Public Relations Officer, Moureen Chinaka, who disclosed this in a press statement, said that appropriate disciplinary actions would be taken against the killer cop. She commiserated with the family of the victim and gave assurances that they would be carried along in further investigations into the matter.

The victim in this most distressing story, Mr Emmanuel Okocha, a native of Abiriba in Ohafia Local Government Area of the state, was said to be driving home on the Aba-Owerri Road when policemen stationed at a checkpoint demanded money from him and he allegedly turned down the request. In the ensuing argument, Okocha was shot by the trigger-happy policemen. He was rushed to a hospital in the city but it was to no avail. The statement by the PPRO read in part: “Preliminary inquiries into the matter reveal that a police corporal, Obagi Njok, attached to Abayi Police Division under Abia State Police Command shot at Mr Emmanuel Okocha along Aba-Owerri Road. The officer has been apprehended and necessary disciplinary procedures have been initiated. Appropriate disciplinary actions and sanctions will be effected soonest, and he will face the full course of appropriate administrative and legal consequences. The Abia State Police Command states without prevarication that the incident is unfortunate, and regrettable.”

For years, innocent citizens have been killed at checkpoints, with their families and friends thrown into despair. In almost all cases, the victims were dispatched into their early graves for refusing to succumb to extortion by the men paid to protect them. Although the culprits were rounded up and prosecuted in most, if not all of the cases, their self-imposed ordeal did not lesson the impact of their murderous acts on the families of the victims whose joy was cut short in the most brutal fashion. While the death of criminals in a scuffle with the police at checkpoints can be justified, there is no justification whatsoever for the death at checkpoints, of innocent citizens going about their lawful business or indeed anywhere else. Indeed, as an Inspector General of Police, Mr Tafa Balogun, once pointed out, it is better for a criminal to escape than for an innocent person to be shot. The then IGP was talking about innocent citizens caught in a crossfire, and victims of accidental shooting in diverse circumstances. Now, if the idea of shooting indiscriminately at crowds is reprehensible, what about the deliberate killing of innocent citizens by trigger-happy policemen intent on extorting money from road users and decreeing death or grievous bodily harm for those who fail to comply with their illegal demands? Whatever happened to the idea of serving and protecting with integrity like Sunday Ehindero, another IGP, espoused during his time in office?

For years, the very idea of checkpoints has been hotly debated, but most Nigerians arguably have no problem with policemen being on the roads if their activities are aimed at apprehending criminals and thus enhancing public safety. Apparently, mindless killing of innocent citizens defeats the essence of the checkpoints, which is to checkmate crime and criminals. In the extant case, an innocent citizen was brutally and permanently silenced just for refusing to be subjected to extortion. This is so sad. It is bad enough that a civilian had to remind law enforcement agents of what the law says at grave risk to his own life, but he even paid the ultimate price for his integrity. By implication, the policemen he encountered on the Aba-Owerri Road were not there to protect him and other users. Rather, they were there to make money off him and other citizens. In that case, criminals who were ready to pay bribes would have navigated the checkpoint without incident, and proceeded on their criminal path!

The killing of Emmanuel Okocha is most unfortunate. Such incidents cast Nigeria in very dark light in the eyes of the international community, and must be curbed. The incident represents a blight on the labours of the highly conscientious, extremely disciplined and patriotic officers and men of the force who put their lives on the line to ensure the security and safety of fellow citizens. In the current case, it is good that the police authorities responded swiftly to the sad incident and apprehended the culprit. It is hoped that they will ensure the dispensation of justice in this case. Ultimately, though, stamping out the menace of mindless killings at checkpoints requires a change in the mentality of police personnel. Policemen must stop seeing checkpoints as meal tickets.

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