Emeka Ibemere
Article 4
of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, states that “Human rights
are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his/her person.
No one may be arbitrarily deprived of his /her right.” This declaration is one
amongst many such of the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
But for Nigeria police, this charter doesn’t
concern them. So, the poor human rights activities of the Nigeria police
authorities have earned the police a bad image in the eyes of international
communities and institutions since inception of the civilian government in
1999.
Reports
said human rights abuse by the police
is a phenomenon
that is disturbing
and worrisome to Nigerians. According to several reports,
this has left many citizens to be injured physically, mentally and
psychologically as they go through
these experiences in
the hands of
those whose responsibility is
to protect them. Experiences of
victims of human rights abuse by police, affirms that there exist frightening
stories in which the citizens hardly have any complements for the police,
detest interaction with police personnel as they see it as a prelude to arrest.
This has
been traced to
the committal human
rights abuses by
the police against members
of the society. It is therefore
suggested that the
Police need training
and retraining in
the area of human
rights, punish erring
officers as a
deterrent to others,
improvement in salary
and welfare package, as
well as promoting
community policing as a
way of improving
the protection of life
and property of
people, which is
one of the
cardinal reason for
their existence.
Folashade
B. Okeshola of Department of Sociology Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria,
presenting a paper on Human Rights Abuse by Nigerian Police in Four Selected
States and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja said in Nigeria, that the public perception
of police brutality
and violence, which
influence their uncooperative and
unsupportive attitude towards police, was broad, encompassing both physical and verbal
assault, harassment and
restraints from exercise
of their constitutional rights.
“Police roles
in individual disputes
resulting in workers
strike, student demonstration, public procession and
demonstration against unpopular
government policies, frequently
involve violence, harassment and intimidation, arrest and detention,” he
said.
“
Several scholars have
reported widespread brutality
by police during
crime control operations, crowd control, and management of protests and
demonstration, investigation and at checkpoint.
Police brutality also occurs in the form of extra judicial killings or
summary execution of suspects and revenge killings”.
According
to his reports there have been allegations of police involvement in armed
robbery and recruitment of hired assassins.
During criminal investigations and
in all there was always
absence of respect
for human rights as
the police resort
to torture to
extract confession.
“The methods
or instrument of
torture used by
the police include
beating with sticks, iron
bars, wires and
cables, sticking pins
or sharp objects
into the private
parts of suspects , shooting of
suspect on the limbs, use of cigarette lights to inflict burns on suspects”
“These and
other practices such
as arresting a
relation as substitute
for wanted suspect,
apart from being a human right violation, create indelible negative impression
of police among the victims of these
practices”.
He
accused the Nigerian police of frequently using torture while interrogating
suspects despite section 34 of the Nigeria Constitution. “In a study conducted in 2000 by
the Nigerian Human
Rights Commission and the
Centre for Law
Enforcement (CLEEN) stated
that almost 80% of
inmates in Nigerian
prisons claim to
have been beating
by police and
threatened with weapons”.
Meanwhile,
Article 4 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, states that
“Human rights are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect
for his/her person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of his /her right.” This
declaration is one amongst many such as the UN Declaration of Human Rights.
According to the Human Rights Situation Report
2002, the police in Nigeria have a history of
abusing the human rights of the citizenry ranging from detention due to refusal to
give bribe, sexual
and physical assault
of those in police
custody, use of
torture to extract confession, extra judicial killings
engaged in by police personnel and many other acts which have turned the police
to a blood sucking monster in the eyes of the citizenry. In view of this, many
citizens see police personnel as an everlasting enemy and relate to them as
such.
These human
rights abuses have
led to the
maiming, physical and
psychological trauma of many
citizens. Many citizens
have died and
continue to die
in police detention centres and
even on the highways
as the police
commit acts that
for the most
part go unpunished.
It would
also be recalled that Amnesty International in a report last month says that
Nigeria's tactics against Boko Haram have also proven deadly to the country's
citizens as well.
The
report says that the Army killed some 8,000 civilians during its campaign
against the insurgent group, and accused several military leaders of war crimes
and crimes against humanity. The Amnesty report accused the military of
detaining more than 20,000 people in brutal conditions that led to numerous
deaths.
"Former
detainees and senior military sources described how detainees were regularly
tortured to death and hung on poles over fires, tossed into deep pits or
interrogated using electric batons," the report said. But the Ministry of
Defense denounced the Amnesty report and claimed the organization was trying to
“blackmail” the military elite.
In view
of the bad image which the police and the Nigeria army have attracted to
themselves through poor running on their human relationship with the populace,
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), gathered dignitaries at a
one-day national sensitization workshop on human rights for Commissioners of
Police, which preceded a three-day training of trainers’ workshop on human
rights for Assistant Commissioners of Police.
The
stakeholders all noted that respect for human rights can help the police to
gain the trust of the society and the people of Nigeria in the discharge of
their duties. In an address at the opening ceremony of the workshops, the
Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase, represented by the Deputy
Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mamman Tsafe, said, “A human rights based
approach to policing will ensure that our actions are in accordance with the
fundamental principles for the development of just societies.”
He
thanked the European Union and the Embassy of Switzerland for providing funds
for the workshop and said the sensitization and training programs would help
enhance respect for human rights by police officers and the protection of
members of the society.
In his
speech, the Country Representative of the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC) Mr. KoliKouame, represented by Mr. Jesse Wachanga, Project
Officer at UNODC, said a number of surveys, including those conducted by UNODC,
have shown the link between the enjoyment of fundamental human rights and trust
in police authorities.
“By
safeguarding the fundamental rights of all citizens, the police will engender
trust throughout the society and encourage the reporting of crime, thus
contributing to more effective crime fighting and enhancement of justice for
victims,” he said.
Dr.
Hans-RudolfHoder, Ambassador of Switzerland to Nigeria, and Mr. Alan Munday,
Head of Governance and Political Section at the European Union Delegation to
Nigeria and ECOWAS, who were also present at the occasion, congratulated the
Nigeria Police Force for taking another step to strengthen their adherence to
human rights and international standards.
Mr.
Munday praised the commitment by the police authorities towards achieving the
goal of having “a trusted police force which is guided by the respect and
protection of the rights of Nigerian citizens and is working hand in hand with
communities to make Nigeria a safer place.”
spicing
the round-table discussion was presentation of a 408-page training manual on
human rights for the police and a trainers’ guide by Mr. Tsafe on behalf
of Inspector-General of Police, Arase. The manual were developed through
consultations with a wide range of stakeholders. The manual contains 47 modules
on different aspects of human rights, including gender, children’s rights, use
of force and firearms, prevention of torture, etc. It will provide a road-map
for training of police officers on issues of human rights in Nigeria.
The
sensitization workshop and the follow-up training of trainers were organized in
collaboration with the Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA) and
the Embassy of Switzerland under the framework of the European Union funded
project, “Support to the Justice Sector in Nigeria,” implemented by UNODC.
The
sensitization and training workshops aim to contribute to actions to foster a
relationship of trust between police and the society through the entrenchment
of the rule of law and respect for human rights. Support to the Justice Sector
in Nigeria is a 42-month project funded by the European Union with €26 million
and implemented by UNODC to improve the effectiveness, accessibility,
accountability, transparency, and fairness of the justice system in Nigeria.
It supports key initiatives of the Federal Ministry
of Justice to drive a coordinated, unified and integrated reform across the
justice sector.
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