Political killings: Don’t demand justice only on remembrance days, Fagbemi tells Nigerians

A legal practitioner, Prince L. O. Fagbemi, has charged Nigerians to fervently demand justice from the government whenever political killings occur rather than making it an occasional ritual to demand justice only on remembrance days of such killings.

Fagbemi, in his lecture at the 2016 Late Chief Bola Ige Memorial Symposium, held on Tuesday, in Lagos, said demanding for justice must not be a “seasonal or occasional ritual” but an everyday affair like that of the Bring Back our Girls group.

Speaking on “Political killings and our criminal justice system: The impediments”, Fagbemi called on government at all levels to enhance security by massively investing in the deployment of CCTV camera in all major streets and cities to curb political killings and other crimes.

While harping on the need to improve the welfare of security agencies, Fagbemi also pointed out the need for the police to be skilled in modern policing and a digitised criminal investigation system.

In addition, he urged the police to constantly build people’s confidence in them to get requisite information in detecting and combating crime.

He also bemoaned that the criminal justice system was bedeviled by absence of cordial public-police relationship and failure of public social responsibility evident in the lack of readiness of Nigerians to assist security agencies in the investigation and detection of crime in their vicinity.

Also, he decried inadequate security system and government’s culpability showed by the penchant for government to deliberately refuse to resolve some of such killings.

“When political killing (or any killing at all) happens, we must cultivate the habit of consistently engaging the government to rise up to its responsibilities.”

of bringing the killers to book.  Our demand for justice must not be a seasonal or occasional ritual.  It must be continuous.  I do not think it is right that we should always wait for every December 23rd to demand for justice for our former Minister of Justice, Chief Bola Ige.  Let us take a cue from the Bring Back Our Girls group and make it an everyday affair.”