Posted by By Abimbola Akosile on
Nigeria Police Force were yesterday indicted as major perpetrators in a rising incidence of unlawful killings in the country, with over 2,980 people killed in 2004, a figure which represents a 400 per cent increase over a corresponding figure of 756 extra-judicial deaths in preceding year, 2003.
Nigeria Police Force were yesterday indicted as major perpetrators in a rising incidence of unlawful killings in the country, with over 2,980 people killed in 2004, a figure which represents a 400 per cent increase over a corresponding figure of 756 extra-judicial deaths in preceding year, 2003.
While 2,987 individuals lost their lives in 349 cases last year, there were only 177 recorded cases in 2003.
Above figures were contained in a 109-page report titled: 'Impunity in Nigeria: Report of Extra-judicial, Arbitrary and Summary Executions in Nigeria, 2004," a document compiled by Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), and presented to newsmen in Lagos yesterday.
Speaking at the presentation, LEDAP's National Coordinator, Mr. Chino Obiagwu, said although only 16 cases were resolved out of the 177 cases in 2003, none of the 349 cases in 2004 has been resolved or the perpetrators prosecuted to finality, which to him, showed an impunity rate of 100 per cent; even as he admitted that the report, based on compiled media and NGO reports was not exhaustive since many such killings went unreported.
"Out of the total deaths arising from extra-judicial and summary killings in 2004, none has been resolved or prosecuted conclusively. The report shows that the increasing rate of such executions in 2004 with a correspondingly decreasing rate in resolved cases, means the accountability capacity of the Nigerian state, with respect to life and human security, is increasingly declining at an alarming rate.
The high impunity rate underscores the apparent inability of government to deal with the continued gross violation of human rights in the country," he decried.
He said, "LEDAP is concerned that if unlawful killings are allowed to continue unabated, there would be severe threat to sustenance of democracy and economic growth in the country. We call on Federal Government to immediately take steps to overhaul the Police Force to position it to deal with increasing spate of violence in the country, and provide adequate communication and other facilities to effectively fight crime and control violence in the nation".
"We want to see concrete action, offenders prosecuted, docked and tried for murder. Over 150 judgments were given against the Police in the last 10 years, but none has been effected. It all boils down to the issue of administration of criminal justice system in the country. We are in a state of helplessness where poor people's rights are infringed upon. There is a high level of violence all over the country. Crime control activities should be more proactive than reactive".
Describing Police as main perpetrators of such killings, Obiagwu called for prompt prosecution of offenders and review of the justice system administration in Nigeria, to ensure speedier and more effective means of ensuring justice for the vulnerable masses. He expressed worry at the high numbers of small arms circulating in the country, and the increasing unrest in the Niger Delta, and called on government to address the problem of small arms and take concrete steps to mop up illegal arms and tighten the borders to control inflow.