The slogan “The police are your friend”, which is quite popular in Nigeria, only generates ridicule and sarcasm in an average Nigerian. This is understandable considering the many unsavory reports being heard about atrocities committed by some members of the Nigerian Police.
The uniformed, upon being admitted to the Police, undertake to enforce the laws of the country and protect the life and property of citizens. However, the opposite is the case for some elements (which are becoming quite a large number) in the Force. m There is hardly a day that you check the newspapers and there are no reports of police brutality.
The recent murder of a Mrs. Funmilayo Abudu in Sagamu, Ogun State, South West Nigeria, raises much concern, especially as she was killed during Christmas when most families were rejoicing. The Nigerian police claim that she was the leader of an alleged gang of thieves, while the family and other members of society swear by the innocence of the woman, who was said to be an employee of a farm until her death. In fact, she would have been sent to buy diesel for the farms when she encountered crossfire between the Police and armed robbers. The police, in their usual way, have taken a tough stance, refusing to admit they killed her by mistake. To add to the misery of the deceased’s family, they have refused to hand over her body for her burial.
This is not the first time members of the Nigerian Police have killed innocent citizens, either by mistake or brazenly, and to conjure up a cover-up. We have had cases where young men have been unfairly felled by police bullets and the police are quick to go to the media with false accusations, even displaying weapons allegedly found on their victims. However, it has not been common to have women as their victims. Therefore, this last dimension is a cause for concern.
No one is saying that women don’t commit crimes or that a woman can’t be the leader of a gang of thieves. We have seen situations where banks were robbed by a woman. But in the case of Ms. Abudu, there have been public protests. Her co-workers have come to defend her innocence. Her relatives have spoken enthusiastically of her and even her neighbors have gone so far as to describe her as someone who was just struggling to keep up her body and soul along with her job at her Farms. The police officers who perpetrated the act as usual, have been left faceless being protected by the Police Corps. There have been no convincing statements from the police showing that the woman was justly killed in self-defense by the police.
When Uzoma Okeke (another victim of the Force’s assault) was recently attacked by naval servicemen in Lagos, Nigeria, there was such a public outcry that it even warranted mention of the case on the floor of the national assembly and earned him an invitation from the Governor of Lakes State. This makes me start to wonder if we are all really equal before the law. What gives the Nigerian police the impetus to keep holding Abudu’s body? Is it because unlike Uzoma, she didn’t live to tell her version of her story? Or because she didn’t have a father who was somehow connected to the seat of power? Many questions begging for an answer as Funmilayo Abudu’s spirit cries out “Who will speak for me?” As the saying goes, “When beggars die you don’t see comets.”