The catchphrase “Police is your friend”, which is quite popular in Nigeria, only draws ridicule and sarcasm from an average Nigerian. This is understandable considering the many unpleasant 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 large numbers) in the Force. m There is hardly a day that you check the newspapers and there is no report of police brutality.
The recent murder of a Ms. Funmilayo Abudu in Sagamu, Ogun State, south-western Nigeria, raises a lot of concern, especially as she was killed during Christmas when most families were rejoicing. Nigerian police say she was the leader of an alleged gang of thieves, while family and other members of society swear by the innocence of the woman, who was said to have been a farm worker until her death. In fact, she would have been sent to buy diesel for the farms when she came across a crossfire between the Police and armed robbers. The police, in their usual fashion, have been tough, refusing to admit they killed her by mistake. To add to the misery of the deceased’s family, they have refused to deliver her body for her burial.
This is not the first time that members of the Nigerian Police have killed innocent citizens, either by mistake or blatantly, and to stave off a cover-up. We have had cases where police bullets have wrongfully brought down young men and police are quick to go to the media with false accusations, even showing weapons allegedly found on their victims. However, it has not been common to have women as its victims. Therefore, this last dimension is 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 raved about her and even her neighbors have gone so far as to describe her as someone who just struggled to support herself body and soul along with her job at her Farms. The Police who perpetrated the act as usual, have been left without a face being protected by the Police Force. There have been no convincing police statements to show that the woman was justly killed in self-defense by the police.
When Uzoma Okeke (another victim of the Force assault) was recently attacked by naval soldiers in Lagos, Nigeria, there was so much public outcry that he even justified the case being mentioned in the plenary session 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 asking for an answer while the spirit of Funmilayo Abudu shouts “Who will speak for me?” As the saying goes, “When beggars die you don’t see comets.”