From: barnhart@gagme.chi.il.us (Mr Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS: NIGERIA: TRIGGER-HAPPY POLICE HAVE GONE TOO FAR
Originator: @gagme
Organization: Evanston, Illinois
Date: Sat, 3 Oct 1992 21:46:12 GMT

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Area: Africa, west
Title: NIGERIA: TRIGGER-HAPPY POLICE HAVE GONE TOO FAR


an inter press service feature

by kole babalola

pilgani, nigeria, sep 26 (ips) -- the cold blooded killing of
army colonel domven rindam has brought into sharp focus the
problem of misuse of firearms by police in this west african
country.

rindam, who died after receiving seven bullets from a
trigger-happy policeman at a checkpoint in lagos sep 6. becomes
another statistic in the long list of victims of indiscriminate
use of firearms by the police.

despite protests from the nigerian public, dating back to the
death of an american-based athlete, dele udoh, in the early
1980s the list of people who have died at the hands of the
police victims has continued to grow.

on may 15, 1991, nwogu okere, a lagos company chief
executive was murdered in cold blood by the police, who had
been pursuing him, his wife and driver for several kilometres.

in fact, between march and may of the same year, the police
were on record as having killed 20 people on the pretext that
they were suspected armed robbers.

earlier this year, a strike action by petrol tanker drivers
which led to a nation-wide fuel shortage was actually
precipitated by the police who had killed about four of the
strikers within the month of july.

it took a stern warning from vice-president augustus aikhomu,
that the police commissioner in charge of the state where a
tanker driver was killed would be held responsible, before the
random shooting at strikers ceased.

delivering the sermon at rindam's funeral here, preacher, tom
inyang, an army major, said the only way to stop the killings
was to ''nip this malady in the bud''.

following the killing of rindam, inspector general of the
police aliyu attah has banned all checkpoints through out the
country.

but despite assurances from army spokesman fred chijuka that
''after this killing, the police will not do it again'', many
nigerians feel the nightmares caused by the police are yet to be
over. (more/ips)


nigeria: trigger-happy (2)

kassim dawodu, a taxi driver in lagos for the past 25 years,
says the police are the main source of problems in the country.

''take the police away from the roads and you will see how
everybody will feel free'', says dawodu.

since the killing of rindam, policemen have hardly been
giong out onto the streets in uniform for fear of reprisal from
the angry public or the military.

according to some observers, since the frightened policemen
vacated the streets, the usual traffic jams in many parts of
lagos, for example, have vanished.

biodun olowu, a banker, told ips that the traffic jams caused
by too many police checkpoints have contributed to a lot of the
tension experienced by nigerians in these difficult times.

''if it were possible to carry out tests on nigerians today,
the level of tension in them must have reduced drastically
(since the removal of the checkpoints), even though they still
face hard economic realities'', says lagos doctor ibitoye aje.

but felix nwadiogu, a civil servant in lagos, says the
euphoria over the banning of checkpoints may not last because
robbers will use the absence of the police from the roads to
carry out their activities.

however, nwadiogu may not have to worry because the banning
of checkpoints does not remove anti-crime patrols, which police
spokesman frank odita says will be intensified.

the harassment of members of the public by the police is not
limited to ordinary nigerians.

former military leader olusegun obasanjo and present army
chief salihu ibrahim and david jemibewon, a retired two star
army general, have all been harassed at check points in the
recent past.

luke aghanenu of the committee for the defence of human
rights says it is regrettable that it took the life of a
high-ranking military officer to wake the authorities from their
slumber, while innocent civilians were being murdered by the
police.

''the government should do something to stop the killings of
innocent people by the police on flimsy excuses'', he says.
(end/ips/kb/tvh/apc/92)
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