Last Monday, Justice Ibironke Harrison of the Lagos High Court found a police officer, Drambi Vandi, guilty of one count charge of murder of Bolanle Raheem, the female lawyer who was murdered in cold blood on December 25, 2022.
The circumstances around her death would melt any heart except those of these criminals that the police keep recruiting to turn their arms against the same people they are paid and armed to protect.
Since I became old enough to read I have always read about the Nigeria Police promising to fish out the so-called few bad eggs in their midst. And If I still have to read that to this day then it means there are perhaps more bad eggs there than good ones.
I know the argument would be that even in the developed world, incidents like this happen all the time. True, but the reckless abandon with which the Nigerian Policemen threaten to kill people and sometimes carry out extrajudicial killings cannot be equaled anywhere. Forget the few cases that get reported, there are several more whose cases just go unnoticed or unchallenged because the victims are not from privileged backgrounds or highly placed in society.
To think that Mrs. Raheem was killed in front of her husband and children on December 25 after they were returning from a visit makes it even more callous. How can anybody claim that a pregnant woman with her children and husband on a festive day could possibly be suspect?
Now, if this unfortunate fate can befall a woman and family of such a status, then you can imagine what would happen to many ordinary Nigerians on the streets. A policeman that can shoot a woman would not hesitate to shoot any youth or man given the same situation.
The police, perhaps, because of their poor orientation and training are the most difficult people to deal with. It is difficult to have an issue with the police and not regret ever making the decision to approach them.
Not even the unfortunate experience of the EndSARS has changed the mindset of the police. They still harass, on the streets, innocent youths threatening to shoot them if they fail to release their phones, even when their superiors have repeatedly told the world that it is illegal and improper to do that.
All the youth need to do to be suspects is to be well-dressed and if they’re two or more in a car, then that is a red flag for the police. When has it become a crime for a young man with a valid licence to drive a car or what offence has a poor boy or girl committed because he or she is clean and well-dressed?
As recently as May, this year, Lagos State Police Command dismissed one Sergeant Ekpo Shimuyere from the Sogunle Division for extorting N98,000 from a young man.
The state Police Command’s spokesperson, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said that Shimuyere was dismissed and disrobed by the Provost Department of the command for extorting N98,000 from the young man.
Shimuyere, it was reported, collected the young man’s phone and used a PoS operator to transfer N98,000 out of the N100,000 in the young man’s bank account: leaving just N2,000 for the poor boy, how callous?
Imagine what would have been the fate of the young man if he had refused to cooperate with the police while they carried out this evil plan. This is just a case out of several others not reported.
Before the EndSARS protest, it was common knowledge that the offices of SARS across the nation were horror places where suspects hardly returned alive. In a lot of places around Lagos policemen randomly go on raids with some conscripted thugs named ‘catchers’ who pursue frightened youths on their behalf since most of the policemen are so bloated and unfit to chase them.
Many of these youths who are barely surviving, earning meagre wages from their shift duties at shop complexes, eateries and others are extorted. Inability to pay for their release will see them spend the night in their decrepit cells. What laws say it’s an offence to walk at 11 p.m.? If they have reasons to suspect these boys why shouldn’t their company identity cards suffice?
Death sentences in Nigeria are common but no police officer has received such a sentence nor has any execution taken place in the country in many years.
Drambi’s punishment was swift and commendable. Although he still has the chance to appeal the judgement, this will go a long way to serve as a deterrent to many of them who still conduct themselves like they are above the law.
The debate against capital punishment has been that it is not the solution but a man who so whimsically murders another without the least consideration for the consequences of his actions, does not deserve to have his.
The police authorities too cannot be completely exonerated because some of these arms-bearing policemen look like accidents waiting to happen. Many are usually drunk while on duty. Why arm a man whose character is not stable? Some look even drunk very early in the morning.
Unfortunately, nothing can be done now to bring back the late Bolanle Raheem, but Drambi’s conviction is an emphatic statement to the effect that nobody is above the law.
For the bereaved family, this death was not only avoidable but completely senseless and unimaginable.
Although it has been argued that the police are only a reflection of the larger society, it is also true that there are many Nigerians who are seeking jobs and who are denied while people of questionable character are recruited.
Also, the government must take seriously the welfare of serving policemen. Their living condition is begging for attention and those who may lose their limbs or are incapacitated should be promptly paid entitlements, while the families of those who die should be taken care of.
That said, poor remuneration or incentives are not reasons to vent their frustration on society. The police must therefore devise a means of regularly weeding itself of men and women of questionable characters.
Today, it is Mrs. Bolanle Raheem, tomorrow it will be someone else. May God continue to grant her family the fortitude to bear that loss.
