Showing posts from July, 2022

police sergeant sentenced to death

Oleh Mojisolanews - July 30, 2022

photo credit: Google

Ilesanmi mojisola.

Lagos

POLICE OFFICER SENTENCED TO DEATH

A Rivers State High court sitting in Port Harcourt has sentenced a dismissed police Sergeant, James Imanilu, to death by hanging for the murder of a commercial driver identified as David Legbara who is the bread winner of his family while working for his daily bread.

Justice Elsie Thompson, while delivering her judgment found Sergeant Imanilu guilty of the murder of Late Legbara who was shot dead at Wimpy junction in Port Harcourt in 2015. Their to protect lives and property, when going about their job

include safeguarding the citizens,

According to the code of conduct sign by him in the Nigeria police force is to protecting the innocent, keeping peace and community service. In addition to these, the duty of a police officer is and ensuring the rights of all to liberty,

Justice Thompson said evidence before the court showed that the defendant intentionally fired a bullet at the commercial driver, describing the dismissed Sergeant as a serial trigger-happy policeman that should not be allowed to remain in society.

According Muyiwa Adejobi the spoke person of the Nigeria police force he said the purpose of having a code of conduct is to provide all members of the Nigeria Police Force with a set of guiding principles and standards of behaviour while on or off-duty. Added to that, the code of conduct determines what is right and proper in all actions of the police officers.

The trial Judge said the court found the former policeman guilty having looked at his extra-judicial and confessional statements as well as the evidence presented by the prosecution team and their witnesses.

However, one of the lawyers on the prosecution team, Kingsley Briggs, said: “We thank God that today’s judgment has been given. Though the wheel of justice grinds slowly, but surely justice will come.

“For the family, of those that lost their loved one and breadwinner it is quite unfortunate but by this judgment today it will serve as a succor to the family.”

Also, a representative of a legal Aide council in Rivers State, who defended the former policeman Sergeant Imanilu in an interview with newsmen, said they will study the judgment to know the next line of action.

Taming the rising insecurity

Oleh ope jaccuzi - July 30, 2022

President Muhammadu Buhari, the other day, advised the Nigerian media to stop using the phrase, “rising insecurity” but instead use “declining insecurity.” He also urged them to report accurately on issues of security and safety. However, a cursory look at the security situation in Nigeria shows that the spate of insecurity has reached a critical point. It is rising rather than declining in the country.

The recent massacre of innocent people by bandits in Sokoto and the killing of some traditional rulers in Imo State are pointers to the situation at hand. In a callous and wicked manner, the Sokoto bandits invaded Goronyo market in Goronyo Local Government Area of Sokoto State, killing 43 people. Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State confirmed the death toll. Earlier in October, about 19 people were killed in an attack at another village market in Sabon Bimi district, near the border with Niger. There have been many other killings in Sokoto and other parts of the North.

The Imo State killings are also worrisome. According to reports, the traditional rulers were having a meeting at Nnenasa in Njaba Local Government Area of the state when the assailants struck. They killed two of the monarchs as some others sustained various degrees of injuries. Across different parts of the country, the situation is the same. Thousands of innocent students have been kidnapped for ransom and hundreds of innocent citizens have been killed. Over two millions others have been rendered homeless. This might have prompted The Economist of London to write in its recent editorial on Nigeria that almost 8,000 people were directly killed in various conflicts and 2,200 people kidnapped for ransom in the first nine months of 2021. The number of the abducted, the magazine said, was more than double that of last year, which was roughly 1,000.

The paper also noted that jihadists were carving out a caliphate in the north-east; gangs of kidnappers were terrorising the north-west; the fire of Biafran secessionism had been rekindled in the south-east. The newspaper also said that the Nigerian army is also stretched thin, having been deployed to all of Nigeria’s states. The police are understaffed, demoralised and poorly trained.

Although the Nigerian Army has described the paper’s view as “one of those deliberate falsehood and noxious narratives orchestrated by a network of detractors and coven of dark forces working very hard to adorn the Nigerian Army in an unflinching garb of infamy,” it should take a lesson or two from the article and re-strategise to contain the spiraling insecurity. It has become obvious that the nation’s security agents are overwhelmed.

This is partly why the United Kingdom recently advised citizens against travelling to 12 Nigerian states. In a travel advisory for its nationals, the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said Boko Haram insurgents were likely to kidnap foreigners in the listed states. The advisory reads: “There is a high threat of kidnap throughout Nigeria. Kidnaps can be motivated by criminality or terrorism and could be carried out for ideological, financial or political gain. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the risk of kidnap increases after dark.” The 12 states to avoid, according to the UK, are: Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, Kaduna, Katsina, Zamfara, Delta, Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States.

The rising insecurity has contributed significantly to a decline in Nigeria’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). In a recent report, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) noted that the country recorded a significant decline in foreign inflows in the second quarter of 2021. This has also led to a rise in unemployment because some of the factories that will engage people have closed down. Things can’t continue this way.

While we condemn the dastardly killing of Nigerians, we wish to remind the government that security of life and property is its primary responsibility. It should wake up and do the needful. All tiers of government must join hands to ensure that the monster of insecurity is tackled.

We totally support President Buhari’s recent declaration of total war against bandits. The President said the clock of the bandits’ ultimate destruction was ticking as they would no longer have a place to hide. “The days of the bandits are indeed numbered because the military capabilities of our forces are being boosted by the acquisition and deployment of advanced equipment,” Buhari boasted.

The President has been saying things like this. But the more he threatens bandits, the more their atrocities. Now that he has declared a total war again, let him walk his talk. Nigerians want to be fully convinced this time that criminals are actually living in the fool’s paradise of invincibility as the President affirmed recently. We are happy with his assurance that bandits were under pressure because of the intense and sustained air and ground operations against them in their hideouts by security forces. This is how it should be. We hope this translates into an end to the spate of killings in the not too distant future

Insecurity in the land

Oleh ope jaccuzi - July 30, 2022

Contrary to the expectations of compatriots after the current administration came into office, a general feeling of insecurity and helplessness is on the increase in the land. From brutal kidnappings, armed robberies, ritual killings, suicide bombings in the North eastern part of the country, rampaging and murderous Fulani herdsmen, to the ugly rumours of politicians unduly hobnobbing with members of the Armed Forces in order to destabilise the nation, Nigerians are worried that they have been given the short end of the stick. In all of this, the security forces appear to be helpless as well. The Police, especially charged with internal security virtually lie prostrate in the face of security challenges. Indeed, Nigerians no longer have the inner confidence that the State can actually protect lives and property and provide a climate where prosperity could spring from.

Added to this is the tension caused by the rising cost of living. Inflation, power failure, job losses, failing businesses, the abysmal rate of exchange of the naira to other currencies, unemployment, and a feeling of despondency leading to an increase in suicide rate are challenges we also face. People are disenchanted with the current Federal government because of its failure to address the basic daily problems, which confront them. Uncertainty about the fate of the economy and how to face the future is also a major concern.

Ensuring general security is the main duty of government to the people. Any government, which fails to guarantee the safety of life and property is not worth its salt. In Nigeria, internal security is the responsibility of the Nigeria Police. The intelligence arm of the Police, along with other security agencies such as the Department of State Security, (DSS), are charged with gathering intelligence with a view to thwarting acts that could be detrimental to the nation. Furthermore, after criminal acts have been carried out, the Police ought to be able to fish out the culprits. Our experience has been that criminals of some dastardly crimes are hardly ever caught. Intelligence gathering has failed. Crime prevention is abysmal. Crime detection appears worse.

Of late, kidnapping has entered into the realm of ‘familiar’ crimes. Countless families have been subjected to the trauma of abductions. In some cases there is loss of life. Ransom is paid. The victim is the released. Indeed, some families would rather negotiate with the kidnappers than report to the Police. The time has come for the Nigeria Police to develop a counter-measure to this menace. Kidnapping ought to be contained given the level of telecommunication equipment, which are available in the market.

Also very distressing are reported cases of criminals who masquerade as herdsmen to perpetrate wanton acts of destruction of lives and property across the country. Benue, Kaduna, and Delta States have borne the brunt of these attacks. Some citizens became victims of the vicious attacks while carrying out the basic simple task of tending their crops in their farms. While in Benue State the Agatu massacre has gone down in history as one of the most deadly attacks in modern Nigeria history, the scoundrels are said to be deeply embedded in Ethiope East Local Government area of Delta State. A State legislator representing the Local government under reference has cried out that helicopters bring supplies to the herdsmen who had no authority in the first place to lodge in the area. Ekiti State has passed legislation to curb the menace of herdsmen whose cattle graze on farms meant for agricultural produce. The Federal Government has not taken any concrete steps to deal with the situation.

Sadly, the barbaric act of ritual killing is still present with us. Some depraved citizens still believe that offering a human being for sacrifice is a gateway to prosperity. Reports of disappeared children or ladies are rife. Sometimes, corpses are found with missing body parts. Unlike their counterparts in other climes who pursue mysterious murder cases to a logical conclusion the Nigeria Police is not known to take this task seriously. For example, it is on record that the British Police came to Benin City Nigeria on account of a torso they found floating in River Thames.

One of the obligations of power, which the people entrusted to the All Peoples’ Congress (APC) government is to create and sustain an atmosphere in the polity where individual and collective security is guaranteed. The President and his government, the Nigeria Police under the Inspector General and his men should rise to the occasion and reassure all that the situation can be controlled. The Federal Government should make affirmative pronouncements and take concrete actions to instill confidence in the people.

Mojisolanews