9 June 2011
editorial
The recent killing of an Army Staff Sergeant and the subsequent revenge attacks by people believed to be soldiers, which claimed the lives of at least three senior police officers are tragic and condemnable actions that demand urgent redress.
The deaths were clearly avoidable and further evidence of the quick resort to “self-help,” jungle justice or extra-judicial means of resolving purely criminal matters in the country generally but among sections of the military and police.
The Army Staff Sergeant, attached to 242 Reconnaissance Battalion, Ibereko Barracks in Badagry, Lagos State, according to reports, was shot dead, allegedly by trigger-happy policemen of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), the anti-crime outfit of the Lagos State government at a checkpoint along the Badagry – Mile 2 expressway.
There are conflicting accounts of the tragic incidents, and we hope that the joint investigative panel set up by the Army and Police High Commands to probe the killings will get to the root of the matter expeditiously.
According to one account, the Army Staff Sergeant, who was said to have been riding a motorcycle at the time of the tragedy, allegedly refused to stop for routine police checks at the road block when he was asked to do so.
The policemen, in an attempt to get him to comply with their order, allegedly shot him dead following a scuffle.
Another account has it that the soldier was escorting goods from Seme, the border town between Nigeria and Benin Republic when the RRS operatives stopped the vehicle for routine checks. The Army Sergeant, rather than cooperate with the policemen, reportedly demanded free passage for the vehicle he was said to have been escorting and further threatened the policemen who responded angrily and following a scuffle, the man was shot dead.
In a swift move to avenge the killing, some people believed to be soldiers from the Ibereko Barracks, in Badagry reportedly decided to descend heavily on any police personnel in sight. Although the number of policemen killed in the revenge attack is still shrouded in controversy, what is incontrovertible is that three senior police officers lost their lives.
They are the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Ibereko Police Station, Mr. Saliu Samuel and the Divisional Crime Officer (DCO), Mr. Samson Okedusi Tayo. The Operational Police Officer (OPO) of the same Station, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Mr. Taofeek Afolabi died later at the Ikeja General Hospital where he was rushed to following the serious injuries he sustained during the attack.
The killing of the policemen is totally unjustifiable and, indeed, heartrending, considering that they were said to be on their way to a meeting aimed at making peace with the Army commanders at Ibereko Barracks when they met their untimely death.
We condemn the extra-judicial killing of the Police officers as well as the shooting of the Army Staff Sergeant. They are arbitrary and like similar incidents in the past, condemnable. They reinforce the impression that Nigeria is governed by the rule of the jungle.
The reality, however, is that the country is now governed by a constitution and has a virile criminal justice system. The killings also brought to the fore the impunity with which our law enforcement agents resolve issues that should ordinarily be addressed in a court of competent jurisdiction.
The incidents have again exposed the lack, or low level, of espirit de corps or camaraderie existing between the Army and the Police as well as the other security services. This is regrettable especially given that these services necessarily have to collaborate to secure the society.
We therefore welcome the joint investigative panel set up by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika and the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the incidents and hope that from their recommendations a permanent solution to such bloody clashes would be found.
The Panel must, therefore, leave no stone unturned in efforts to get to the root of the matter, for lasting harmony among the services and in the overall interest of the country.
AllAfrica – All the Time
Taken from:
Deadly Army, Police Clash