Beyond the many curses that followed the murder of Mrs. Omobolanle Raheem, a Lagos-based lawyer and twin babies by the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Drambi Vandi last Christmas, the tragedy has escalated yet again. the urgent need to pay more than lip service to police reform in the country. The murder of Mrs. Raheem is too much and should not be allowed to become one of the unsolved murders in Nigeria. The lawyer, who is seven months pregnant with twins, was on her way to buy pizza with her husband and family members when she was shot dead at close range by ASP Vandi of Ajiwe Police Station, Ajah, Lagos. ASP obviously stopped and the search task at that time. Mrs. Raheem died immediately in the front seat of the car her husband was riding in at the time.
Beyond the crying, nothing should be undone to ensure that the killer is brought to justice. In the same vein, although the damage is irreparable and the lives lost are irreplaceable, the police must pay monetary compensation to the families of the murdered Mrs. twin babies in the womb. No sentiment should be allowed to stand in the way of seeking justice for Mrs. Raheem and her twin babies.
Unfortunately, the cold-blooded killing of innocent Nigerians by the police-happy has become a recurring decimal in Nigeria. Of course, it is the failure to bring these happy killers to justice in this country that seems to have fueled the perpetuation of this heinous crime. Every police officer who happily kills a citizen is condemned by everyone, but, after a while, the killing is forgotten and life goes on without justice for the State, the murdered citizen and their family members.
The country has tolerated many killers and hired killers who have successfully committed murders and gotten away with it because of the inability or unwillingness of the police and security personnel to track down the killers and bring them to justice. For example, until now the police have not unmasked the killer of Mr. Abayomi Ogundeji, a 38-year-old journalist. On December 22, 2006, another journalist, Mr. Godwin Agbroko, was murdered in cold blood on his way home after work. So far, Agbroko’s killers have not been arrested and brought to justice. Apart from Ogundeji and Agbroko, the mystery surrounding the murders and killings of many Nigerians such as Funsho Williams, Bola Ige, Ayodeji Daramola, Aminasoari K. Dikibo, Harry Marshall, Ogbonnaya Uche and others who have been killed at different times over time which are different. year remains unsolved.
On December 6, 2022, Gafaru Buraimoh, a resident of Happy Land Estate in Ajah, Lagos, was also shot dead by the police and so far his killers have not been arrested let alone charged. The #EndSARS national protest report condemned the police brutality, including the killing, on October 20, 2020 of several defenseless protesters at the Lekki Lagos Toll Gate. But until now, the government has not considered it necessary to reform the force and update it with modern police around the world.
The list of unsolved murders and killings, whether by the police or non-state actors in Nigeria is simply nauseating and illustrates that the country does not value human life. It is unacceptable that the state seems powerless to provide genuine clues about the circumstances surrounding the murders and bring them to justice. In fact, some policemen are happy to boast that they can kill anyone at any time and get away with it. And Nigerians seem to be living at the mercy of happy policemen and other killers in Nigeria. This is why the murder of Mrs. Raheem and her twin babies must be solved with justice.
The authorities must ensure that there is no obstruction of justice in bringing the murderer to book. Happily, the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) has set up a Panel of members to ensure that Mrs. Raheem and Buraimoh get justice. The failure to get justice in some cases of murder and murder for hire in this country has led to more murders and murders in Nigeria.
The gruesome murder of Mrs. Raheem is another wake-up call for the urgent need for police reform and revamping of the country’s criminal justice system. The government should stop procrastinating on these issues and launch itself to implement the various recommendations presented before successive governments at different times. Nigerians have waited too long for concrete action on police reform to no avail. However, the government has treated the problem with rhetoric that has failed to solve the problem.
The Nigerian Police must be reinvented. First, the police must treat civilians as people to be protected, not enemies to be exterminated. Some policemen who patrol the highways are frustrated by the negative working conditions and sometimes lack of pay. It becomes easy for them to vent their frustrations on innocent civilians at the slightest friction. The government should increase salaries and welfare packages.
There should also be an end to the crime investigation. The police must stop scuttling justice on the pretext of investigating a crime. Crime investigations should not last forever. Mandatory annual training on capacity building, ethical policing and crime fighting should be organized for the police. Police prosecutors must be trained lawyers who understand the basics of criminal prosecution. The recruitment and appointment procedures of the police force should be reformed to ensure that dead wood in the force is regularly weeded out. Mechanisms for internal discipline and sanctions in the police force should be reactivated. Corrupt police officers who extort money from innocent citizens or bring false charges against innocent citizens just to extort money from them should be fired from the force.
However, the desired changes will be easier to implement under a decentralized state police, not under a giant force that has become too difficult to accommodate the modern policing system.