Posted by The Punch on
The killing by the Police, of six youths in Apo Village in Abuja earlier this month, is an attestation to how cheap life has become in Nigeria.
The killing by the Police, of six youths in Apo Village in Abuja earlier this month, is an attestation to how cheap life has become in Nigeria.
While one is bothered that the Police have not been able to establish an offence against these slain youths to justify their dastardly act, it is even more horrifying that the heinous crime was perpetuated by top ranking Police officers.
That these youths' murder generated much public outrage does not mean that this is the first time the Police would be killing innocent people in cold blood. It is just that nemesis seems to have caught up with the criminals in Police garb.
On the highways, Police are known to be armed with loaded guns, which they find difficult to use on criminals, but readily turn on innocent citizens who may refuse to bribe them.
The nation has lost count of cases of 'accidental discharge" from police guns, which has sent people, young and old, to untimely graves.
One wonders how many investors would want to come to a country where the average policeman on the street is a lunatic.
Meanwhile, the officers indicted in the Apo killings should be prosecuted to serve as deterrent to other killers prowling Nigerian roads in Police uniforms.
Enebeli Edwin,Mutairu Onigbanjo St.,Ikate- Surulere, Lagos.
The Punch Tuesday, July 12, 2005