February 14, 2010
The footage televised by Aljazeera network showing men in Nigerian police uniform shooting unarmed civilians is horrific, pathetic and full of pathos. The act is condemnable because it was done in a barbaric and inhuman manner. The police men that did the disdainful and shameful act did it with the belief that their evil crime will go unnoticed, despite the fact that it was done in public, against all known ethics and respect for human lives.
The footage televised by Aljazeera network showing men in Nigerian police uniform shooting unarmed civilians is horrific, pathetic and full of pathos. The act is condemnable because it was done in a barbaric and inhuman manner. The police men that did the disdainful and shameful act did it with the belief that their evil crime will go unnoticed, despite the fact that it was done in public, against all known ethics and respect for human lives.
When I watched the disturbing footage, my heart bled. I wept profusely and I could not sleep throughout that long night. Imagine how you will feel when you watch a helpless cripple, walking with the support of crutches ordered to lay down for a photograph by police men, and suddenly he is sprayed with bullets. My psyche is still being haunted by the horrendous voice of an officer directing the executioners to ‘’shoot him in the chest not the head-I want his heart’’. I then began to ask why should unarmed, under age and innocent children be summarily be executed by officers who are paid by tax payers’ money to protect lives, property and maintain law and order at all cost and at all times in the society.
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The Nigerian police have over the years been notorious for extra-judicial killings. Often times, they kill at will and get away with the murder scot-free. It is inconceivable that the same police force that brings back home laurels and medal at International peace keeping that is now looked down upon by Nigerians as a killer machine.
Nigerian police are now at the cynosure of international discourse courtesy of the recent video footage shown by Aljazeera network on Tuesday February 9, 2010. This unfortunate incidence has battered not only the image of the Nigerian police, who were depicted as the perpetrators of the shocking and reprehensible act, but Nigerian citizens, where ever they may be, could not be exonerated of collective quilt until we collectively join hands together and ensure that justice is done to the innocent victims of that shameful killing.
It is worrisome and most unfortunate that many of the estimated 1000 people who were killed were those arrested following the house- to- house random searches by the police, and were executed after the fighting was over. This therefore indicates that most of the victims of Boko Haram mayhem that engulfed some Northern states in mid 2009 were mercilessly executed without recourse to any legal procedures.
This perhaps explains why the 2 weeks ultimatum given to a joint House of Representatives committee on Police Affairs, Human Rights and Justice to investigate the killings as shown in the footage is widely hailed by most Nigerians. We only hope that the committee’s report will not be another exercise in futility, akin to the previous ones before it.
As events unfold, the identity of the murderous men in uniform who happily killed gullible and innocent children in cool blood will soon be revealed. The investigation by the authorities concerned will be made easy because ‘’2 officers seen in the video can be clearly identified by the name tags on their chests’’, reported the daily Trust.
To officials of the Nigerian Police Force who shy away from being quizzed by the media or, debunk the popular opinion with the sluggish defence that the officers who did the killing could not be men of the Nigerian police; the burden of proof lie with them. The truth of the matter is that the image of the Nigerian police has been painted black by that single act of reckless and irresponsible summary execution of the alleged unarmed Boko haram civilians. The Nigerian Police could only redeem its battered image if it could proof otherwise. The damage has been done because the world believes the video footage shown by Aljazeera. So until the deadly silence at the police headquarters in Abuja is broken, to change this position, Nigerians and the international community will hold the NPF responsible for this wanton violence against humanity.
As Nigerians lament over the extra-judicial killings of the Boko-HARAM overzealous youths, pointing accusing finger at the Nigerian Police Force [NPF] as the principal culprits to be held responsible; I wonder how the perpetrators and their accomplices would react to the plethora of strong voices resonating from every angle across the nation, calling on the Federal Government to ensure that justice is done to the families of this innocent victims of Police brutality.
Ogbonnaya Onovo, the Inspector General of Police [IGP] should know that time has gone when a serious allegation levelled against the police could just be swept under the carpet. Nigerians and the world at large are patiently but agitatedly waiting to see when the panels saddled with the responsibility to investigate the killings will submit their reports and what will happen afterward.
Human life is sacred. So it is our collective responsibility to ensure that no soul is treated unjustly. While we take exception to the crude ideology of the Boko Haram Zealots; we, in the same vein, condemn the inhuman and barbaric action of the Nigerian Police in its entirety.
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When I watched the disturbing footage, my heart bled. I wept profusely and I could not sleep throughout that long night. Imagine how you will feel when you watch a helpless cripple, walking with the support of crutches ordered to lay down for a photograph by police men, and suddenly he is sprayed with bullets. My psyche is still being haunted by the horrendous voice of an officer directing the executioners to ‘’shoot him in the chest not the head-I want his heart’’. I then began to ask why should unarmed, under age and innocent children be summarily be executed by officers who are paid by tax payers’ money to protect lives, property and maintain law and order at all cost and at all times in the society.
articleadslinks
The Nigerian police have over the years been notorious for extra-judicial killings. Often times, they kill at will and get away with the murder scot-free. It is inconceivable that the same police force that brings back home laurels and medal at International peace keeping that is now looked down upon by Nigerians as a killer machine.
Nigerian police are now at the cynosure of international discourse courtesy of the recent video footage shown by Aljazeera network on Tuesday February 9, 2010. This unfortunate incidence has battered not only the image of the Nigerian police, who were depicted as the perpetrators of the shocking and reprehensible act, but Nigerian citizens, where ever they may be, could not be exonerated of collective quilt until we collectively join hands together and ensure that justice is done to the innocent victims of that shameful killing.
It is worrisome and most unfortunate that many of the estimated 1000 people who were killed were those arrested following the house- to- house random searches by the police, and were executed after the fighting was over. This therefore indicates that most of the victims of Boko Haram mayhem that engulfed some Northern states in mid 2009 were mercilessly executed without recourse to any legal procedures.
This perhaps explains why the 2 weeks ultimatum given to a joint House of Representatives committee on Police Affairs, Human Rights and Justice to investigate the killings as shown in the footage is widely hailed by most Nigerians. We only hope that the committee’s report will not be another exercise in futility, akin to the previous ones before it.
As events unfold, the identity of the murderous men in uniform who happily killed gullible and innocent children in cool blood will soon be revealed. The investigation by the authorities concerned will be made easy because ‘’2 officers seen in the video can be clearly identified by the name tags on their chests’’, reported the daily Trust.
To officials of the Nigerian Police Force who shy away from being quizzed by the media or, debunk the popular opinion with the sluggish defence that the officers who did the killing could not be men of the Nigerian police; the burden of proof lie with them. The truth of the matter is that the image of the Nigerian police has been painted black by that single act of reckless and irresponsible summary execution of the alleged unarmed Boko haram civilians. The Nigerian Police could only redeem its battered image if it could proof otherwise. The damage has been done because the world believes the video footage shown by Aljazeera. So until the deadly silence at the police headquarters in Abuja is broken, to change this position, Nigerians and the international community will hold the NPF responsible for this wanton violence against humanity.
As Nigerians lament over the extra-judicial killings of the Boko-HARAM overzealous youths, pointing accusing finger at the Nigerian Police Force [NPF] as the principal culprits to be held responsible; I wonder how the perpetrators and their accomplices would react to the plethora of strong voices resonating from every angle across the nation, calling on the Federal Government to ensure that justice is done to the families of this innocent victims of Police brutality.
Ogbonnaya Onovo, the Inspector General of Police [IGP] should know that time has gone when a serious allegation levelled against the police could just be swept under the carpet. Nigerians and the world at large are patiently but agitatedly waiting to see when the panels saddled with the responsibility to investigate the killings will submit their reports and what will happen afterward.
Human life is sacred. So it is our collective responsibility to ensure that no soul is treated unjustly. While we take exception to the crude ideology of the Boko Haram Zealots; we, in the same vein, condemn the inhuman and barbaric action of the Nigerian Police in its entirety.
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