The death of that boy in the Ibadan traffic incident from the police gunshot is one of the saddest things I’ve seen, in a country where sad things are the norm.
The driver was reckless and deserves to be punished it to the fullest extent.
The police officer who discharged his firearm at a fleeing vehicle in a public area is also to be held accountable for his lack of professionalism, but that’s not his worst crime, and he is not the biggest culprit- I will come back to this.
This all takes me back tothe first principles of organising a society. Principles are the foundation on which order and justice in society are laid.
The responsibility to bear arms as a law enforcement agent is a grave one.
It should be borne with the fundamental understanding that the greatest responsibility of the government, which has granted the bearer that authority, is the preservation of life and property of the citizen.
This gravity should be reflected in the rules of engagement for law enforcement and its agents.
Again and again, the actions of Nigerian law enforcement officers particularly in the context of wielding and deploying lethal force continue to show that they are either not trained adequately as a civilian corps, or that there is something fundamentally wrong with the caliber of people staffing its rank and file who are the major culprit in these incidents. It may be both and more.
Despite the best efforts of their various spokesmen, the agency in focus continues to be embarrassed and a source of embarrassment for the Federal government and every right thinking Nigerian forced to live through and live with the oftentimes public display of the damning dysfunction it has failed to deal with. If their methods were working, today wouldn’t happen and this post
wouldn’t exist.
And this brings me back to who the biggest culprit in this latest tragic death by police is. It is the employer of the police force, the executive branch of government; The Federal Government of Nigeria.
That’s where the buck stops, and rightfully so.
The Police must have and operate within certain rules of engagement, in the discharge of their duties, and in the discharge of their weapons. There has to be rigorous training and reinforcement of the principle of the sanctity of human
life in Nigeria.
And that’s precisely the problem.
Various administrations under which this reckless use of weapons continues, so present in our lives that we have a national euphemism for it, “accidental discharge”, have succeeded in allowing a certain subtext to hold sway; that life can be taken away in such a cavalier manner and without consequence by uniformed men.
The ordinary Nigerian is not fully human in the eyes of policymakers and law enforcement.
“I will waste you and nothing will happen”
“Telephones are not for poor people…”
“The type of houses you see when approaching Abuja by air are an embarrassment. Those people should be relocated…”
There is a pattern.
These incidents may seem random but there is a pattern that can not be ignored. A pattern that should not be ignored any longer.
If humans were naturally compliant, policing would not be needed.
Unfortunately, the reality is that there will be unlawful behaviour by citizens.
Even if such were deserving of the death penalty, it should not be at the hand
of a self-appointed executioner in uniform!
A properly trained officer operating under proper rules of engagement would not discharge that weapon, an AK47 assault rifle as seen in the video, for one compelling reason; the chance that a bullet would strike a bystander.
If life were to be placed in the balance as a matter of principle, the fleeing culprits inclusive, he would not fire his weapon.
And that is the tragedy. That thought did not occur to him. That thought does not occur to a lot of people in government. The results are telling. That’s the proof.
X: @justinijeh Instagram: @justinijeh
A citizen’s life matters.
Stop killing Nigerians
Please.
Justin Ijeh is an entrepreneur and concerned citizen and writes from Lekki, Lagos