The police public execution of suspect in Delta State

BUT for the prompt confirmation by the Nigeria Police Force of the viral video showing a 28-year-old man, Mene Ogidi, being publicly executed in Effurun, Delta State, many would have passed it for a movie skit. The brazen manner in which the extrajudicial killing was carried out smacked of professional recklessness and a strong, albeit false, sense of impunity. The suspect cried and pleaded with the police officers not to hurt him but his frantic cry fell on deaf ears as Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Usman Nuru, who led the police team that effected his arrest, shot him at point blank range and in the full public glare! In other words, citizen Ogidi, a suspect deemed innocent in the eye of the law until proven otherwise, was literally murdered with his hands restrained behind his back by a patently misguided and unprofessional police officer in broad daylight! It was a really chilling incident. It is a sad commentary that police officers are assuming the roles of both the executive and the judiciary in 21st century Nigeria.

The story which started with an encouraging vigilant action by some citizens unfortunately ended in a gory narrative, ironically when the police got involved. Ogidi had reportedly attempted to waybill a parcel at Effurun to a recipient in Sapele, Delta State. He was apprehended by some members of the public and handed over to the police after it was discovered that the parcel contained a beretta pistol loaded with four rounds of ammunition. However, it turned out that the citizens who apprehended the suspect had the discipline to conduct themselves within the precincts of the law, resisting the temptation to make a recourse to jungle justice but the supposedly trained security officials could not. They could not even wait to take the suspect to the station alive; it was his lifeless body that was taken to the police station.

The police officer’s gross misconduct naturally raises a number of posers: Why was ASP Usman in a hurry to permanently silence the suspect? Is it not curious that the police officer was apparently not interested in unravelling the whole gamut of the suspected criminal act so that everyone involved could be apprehended? Why did the officer resort to jungle justice, killing a restrained suspect who constituted no threat to anyone? Even if Ogidi were a notorious criminal on the wanted list of the Delta State police command, the police have no power to adjudge him guilty and punish him. That is the forte of the judiciary. Why was the suspect killed even when he screamed at the top of his voice, indicating his preparedness to cooperate with the police and take them to his accomplices? Who is ASP Usman actually working for? The police, himself or some other vested interests? And is the police officer of stable mind, judging by his flagrant breach of the standard rule of engagement in the circumstance?

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Certainly, there is more to the ghoulish incident than meets the eye. And the police must demonstrate in no unmistakable terms that the personnel involved are aberrant officials who didn’t have the support of the force to do what they did. More significantly, the real motivation for the criminal and dastardly act must be unravelled so that justice can be fully served. It is difficult to come to terms with the fact that a handcuffed suspect was shot at point-blank range by a senior police operative, especially when the suspect was extremely cooperative and had even promised to confess all he knew. The question of the suspect resisting arrest or trying to escape did not arise, yet he was executed as if Nigeria is a lawless jungle. The proper thing to do would have been to take him to the police station for interrogation. This is extrajudicial killing and we condemn it in the strongest terms. We commend the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Olatunji Disu, for acting swiftly in this case. He has effected the dismissal of the errant officers involved in the cruel and bizarre incident, and subsequently ordered their prosecution.

It is worthy of mention that historically, extrajudicial killing has been very rampant in Delta State, a tendency which reflects very badly on the successive leaderships of the force in the state. The only difference in the instant case is that the killing was captured on video. The brazen manner Nuru killed the suspect without any qualms suggests that he did not feel he was doing anything unusual. Indeed, he acted as if he was on a familiar terrain. And not a few Nigerians are worried, and rightly so, that if this officer could kill a suspect so cavalierly in broad daylight and in the full public glare, what he would previously have been involved in behind the curtains could only be imagined. The extent of ASP Nuru’s indiscipline and lack of professionalism is disturbing. He must have thought he was a law unto himself, perhaps because of the impunity that had attended similar acts of lawlessness in the past.

This kind of disdain for the sanctity of human life coupled with the extortion of money from young men and women in the country were what culminated in the #EndSARs youth protests in 2020 which literally shut down the country and occasioned unprecedented destruction of public properties, especially in Lagos State. The police, particularly during the era of the defunct SARS, were known to routinely execute suspects and whenever parents heard that any of their children was arrested, they quickly rushed to pay bail money, knowing that they risked being summarily executed without any form of accountability. The police are, thus, urged to wear their cap of caution as the country can ill afford a reenactment of the atrocious activities of the dark days and the attendant consequences that followed. The police should genuinely reform, using training and retraining of personnel as major planks.

For starters, the police are not a court of law; they should stop pretending to be in a position to sanction anyone who breaches the law. That is outside the purview of the force’s mandate. More importantly, there should be a mechanism in place to screen out impulsive candidates with short fuses during recruitment exercises. Such individuals should not be recruited into the force, let alone allowed to carry arms. They are a veritable danger to innocent citizens. For instance, if Nuru could kill a restrained suspect who was pleading with him profusely not to hurt him, it is left to the imagination what he could do to, say, a driver who would dare to argue with him while trying to resist extortion.