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Apo six: A brutal legacy of police impunity

June 8, 2009

Civil rights groups, led by Access to Justice, today in Abuja marked the 4th anniversary of the pre-mediated killing of 6 Nigerian youths by officers of the Nigeria Police Force in what has come to be known as the “Apo Six”.

The groups also used the occasion to highlight the desperate attempt by the Police Force to hide the truth of the dastardly murder of the youth who were in their prime. Gory details of the findings by the Federal Government Commission of inquiry, headed by Justice Olasumbo Goodluck, led to the prosecution of the officers involved in the extra judicial murder. 


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Four years later, however, the police personnel identified by the Commission as having been directly involved in the murder of the youths are still undergoing a shame of a prosecution, while the former Garki Police Station Divisional Police Officer at that time, Mr. Othman Abdulsalam, escaped from police custody and is unaccounted for.  Another suspect, DSP  Danjuma, remains in service and continues to draw a salary.  He even has a detachment of Police officers guarding his residence at the Wuse II District of Abuja.

Today, in a summary of incidences of extra judicial executions and arbitrary killings by the Police and other security agencies, the civil rights groups accused the police of continuing with the crime of mowing down in their  prime, Nigerians who could have contributed to our national development.
According to Mr. Joseph Otteh, the Executive Director of Access to Justice, “Extra judicial, summary and arbitrary killings  by the Police and other security agencies continue to take place rampantly around Nigeria in just about the same way as those of Apo Six, inspired by the same spirit of impunity that characterized those of the Apo Six.”

Mr. Otteh drew attention to the recent killing of a “long sought-after Niger Delta militant,” Mr. Ken Niweigha, who the police claimed they had arrested but got killed in a “shoot out” while being taken away to further investigations at midnight.  Police said the shoot out was after Mr. Niweigha had made a “confessional statement”.
 The human rights groups used the occasion of the 4th Anniversary to keep alive the memory of the Apo Six and all those who lost their lives in similar ways, as a result of Nigeria’s failure to take seriously the job of transforming the Nigeria Police Force.
Civil Rights Groups led by Access to Justice today in Abuja marked the 4th Anniversary of the pre-mediated killing of 6 Nigerian youths by officers of the Nigeria Police Force in what had come to be known as the “Apo Six”.

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The occasion was also used to highlight the desperate attempt by the police force to hide the truth of the dastardly murder of the youth who were in their prime. Gory details of the findings by the Federal Government Commission of inquiry inaugurated to look into the murder headed by Justice Olasumbo Goodluck led to the prosecution of the officers who were involved in the extra judicial murder but four years after, the police personnel identified by the Commission as having been directly involved in the murder of these youths are still undergoing a shame of a prosecution except for the former Garki Police Station Divisional Police Officer at that time; Mr. Othman Abdulsalam who fled while in Police custody and is still unaccounted for. One of the suspects; DSP  Danjuma is  still in service as he continues to draw his salary and has a detachment of Police officers guarding his residence at the Wuse II District of Abuja.


 In a summary of the incidences of extra judicial executions and arbitrary killings by the Police and other security agencies, the Rights Group accused the police of continuing with the crime of mauling down Nigerians who could have contributed to our national development in their primes.
  According to Mr. Joseph Otteh; the Executive Director of Access to Justice, “ Extra judicial, summary and arbitrary killings  by the Police and other security agencies continue to take place rampantly around Nigeria in just about the same way as those of Apo Six, inspired by the same spirit of impunity that characterized those of the Apo Six”
 
Mr. Otteh also made reference to the recent killing of a “long sought after Niger Delta Militant”, Mr. Ken Niweigha who the police claimed they eventually arrested and was allegedly killed in a “shoot out” whilst been taken away by the police for further investigation at midnight. Police said the shoot out was after Mr. Niweigha had made a “confessional statement”.
 The human rights groups used the occasion of the 4th Anniversary to keep alive the memory of the Apo Six and all those who lost their lives in similar ways, as a result of Nigeria ’s failure to take seriously the job of transforming the Nigeria Police Force.

The forum also rapped the Yar’Adua administration for failing woefully to reform the Police. They noted that the administration inherited a police force that was already badly run down following many years of institutional politicization, poor funding, and low professional policing standards, but has failed to begin work on changing all that in the quest for a more accountable, more professional and more people-oriented law enforcement agency. The forum accused the President of not failing to show any sense of urgency on this issue.


Alleging that Nigeria has been turned into a killing field, the rights forum advocated improvements in Police procedures and monitoring, so that extra-judicial executions, such as the Apo Six, are avoided in the future.

 

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