The recent confirmation as full fledge Inspector General of Police of Mr. Hafiz Ringim by the President Goodluck Jonathan-led National police council came at the time that widespread allegations of abuse of the fundamental human rights of Nigerians by police operatives gained unprecedented momentum across the country.
The recent confirmation as full fledge Inspector General of Police of Mr. Hafiz Ringim by the President Goodluck Jonathan-led National police council came at the time that widespread allegations of abuse of the fundamental human rights of Nigerians by police operatives gained unprecedented momentum across the country.
Only last week, the immediate past Deputy Governor of Abia state comrade Chris Akomas was arbitrarily arrested by the police operatives from the Force headquarters on the order of the now confirmed Inspector General of police. The erstwhile Deputy Governor of Abia state had obtained a subsisting order of the competent court of law to enforce his fundamental human Rights but the police operatives gave deaf ear to that reality.
Akomas was detained for three days and was only released when members of the Human Rights Community and his team of lawyers petitioned the Inspector General of police.
My attention was drawn to a case of In-law’s inhumanity to a widow which occurred in the South East but the police are foot dragging in bringing the alleged perpetrators to book. A good follower of this column sent me a mail detailing the said brutal and dehumanizing treatment that was meted out to a mother of two Mrs. Ozioma Onovo even as the writer Mr. Uchenna graphically painted the picture of how this widow was battered to coma and how she lost eight teeth. I investigated and found some great amount of truth in the entire allegations.
According to an August 30, 2010 petition to the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State entitled “Conspiracy and Attempted Murder of Mrs. Ozioma Onovo” filed on behalf of the recuperating widow by Abdul’Aziz Ogbui & Co Chambers, broke loose on Mrs Onovo when news hit the village that her husband of 23 years, Okafor Onovo had died following a fatal road accident along the Enugu-Onitsha expressway. He died alongside other two co-passengers when the commuter bus they were traveling broke down. It was in the process of fixing the vehicle that they were run over by a lorry that lost break and control. With the bad state of Nigerian roads, this kind of unfortunate incident has become common all over the country.
The late Okafor Onovo was said to be on his way from Onitsha where he had gone on the invitation of his younger brother and businessman, Mr. Augustine Onovo for some financial assistance.
Uchenna wrote thus: “It was further revealed that the initial reaction by a faction of the late Okafor Onovo’s family was that the younger brother, Augustine who invited him to Onitsha might have used spiritual means to kill the brother for money rituals. However, on a second thought, they were said to have later dumped the idea, claiming the wife of 23 years, Ozioma must have been responsible for the death because she allegedly prays and fasts too much. It was at that point that the late husband’s cousin and alleged ringleader, Monday Ezekiel Onovo was said to have matched off to the farm where Mrs Ozioma Onovo, yet ignorant of the development, had gone to fetch palm fruits threatening to behead her at the farm. Luck was however on her side as he missed her”.
The story goes thus;
“But mother luck appeared to have deserted her as even a sympathizer who had rushed off to the farm to alert her on the evil agenda against her by her in-laws also missed her as she had stopped over at the village stream to bath after a hard day’s work. That incidentally could have been her last bath as she later returned to the waiting hands of Monday Ezekiel and her late husband’s uncle and sisters who were soon joined by Mr. Monday to allegedly pummel and prey on her that fateful night. Her spirited efforts to escape was cut short as she was pursued and allegedly clubbed down by the assailant in-laws who continued to hit her until she finally slumped and became lifeless in a pool of her own blood. It was only then they took flight, mistaking her for dead. She was rescued and taken to a near-by hospital”.
Police medical report showed she was indeed a victim of a brutish assault. The report dated 26th August 2010 and signed by PC Ozioko Christian said the woman sustained “multiple injuries to the body following alleged mass assault”. “Examination revealed generalized body tenderness, redness of the eye and loss of numerous teeth”, the report further reads. The Police Medical Report also referred to an additional Medical Report signed by Dr. E. Orji, Chief Dental Surgeon of Government Dental Sub-District Hospital, Enugu where she was referred to for further medical examination by the Police Surgeon”.
The police arrested and released the suspects same day which allegedly emboldened them to return back to the widow with further threats of dehumanization.
My take from the experiences recounted by an eye witness about this unfortunate widow is that operatives of the Nigeria police force still find it difficult to become professionally competent and efficient in the investigation of cases of gross human rights violations that are recorded in all segments of the Nigerian society. The Inspector General of police must as a matter of urgent national importance, implement result-oriented measures to give comprehensive capacity building training to the operatives especially in the area of enforcement of laws that promote respect for the fundamental human rights of indigent Nigerians. The success or failure of this new police boss lies on his ability to change for the better, the human rights orientation of his men, officers and operatives.
What has become of the human rights desks established in the different police formations across the country during the tenure of now retired Inspector General of police Mr. Sunday Ehindero? Was it a charade to deceive Nigerians?
The police hierarchy must work with credible civil society groups to provide worthwhile human rights- friendly capacity building education to the operatives of the Nigeria police.
There is no how that Nigeria hopes to achieve realistic rebranding of her international image if the police operatives that are the closest to the citizens are not reformed and compelled to become human rights compliant in the discharge of the constitutional duty of protecting the lives and property of Nigerians.
The Inspector General of police should see it as a national task to ensure that his operatives are made competent in handling cases relating to rape, bad widowhood practices and other human rights violations.
* Onwubiko heads Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria.
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