Mandy Park
The Corporate Accountability and Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) has called for the prosecution of all the police officers attached to Area Command, Asaba on illegal patrol that allegedly shot and killed 31-year-old Ibe Emmanuel Onyeka, a phone seller in Delta State.
CAPPA, described the murder of Onyeka as one extrajudicial killing too many, noting that the same pattern of police brutality and extra judicial murders that led to the #EndSARS nationwide protests are still rife across the country as officers of the Nigeria Police continue to murder innocent civilians unchecked.
According to news reports, Onyeka was in the company of his pregnant wife, who he married just three months ago when he was shot point-blank in the head for failing to give the police officers a bribe of N100 (One hundred naira). He was subsequently rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Asaba, where he was confirmed dead.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Ari Mohammed Ali, who confirmed the development, said the killer policeman, identified as Inspector Obi Ebri has been arrested alongside other members of the team.
In a statement issued in Lagos by CAPPA, signed by Philip Jakpor, (Director of Programmes), made available to Sunday Sun, it described the murder of Onyeka as one extrajudicial killing too many, while calling for the implementation of police reform report.
The statement reads in part “We find it very disturbing that these barbaric acts continue despite the outcry of Nigerians. Another promising young Nigerian has been gunned down barely four months after the killing of a lawyer, Bolanle Raheem, by police in Ajah area of Lagos.
“We re-echo our demand for a total overhaul of the police structure which currently views innocent citizens as prey rather than partners in tackling insecurity in the country.
“We are alarmed that our security agencies which have remained largely docile in the face of bandits across the country come out in full force against those they have sworn to protect. It is shameful and totally reprehensible.
“We are demanding that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Usman Alkali Baba, immediately implement the recommendations of the judicial panel of inquiry that probed the #EndSARS protests as a means of ending extra judicial killings by police officers.
“One of the recommendations after the EndSARS protest was the need to subject police officers, especially those handling firearms, to psychological/psychiatric evaluation, to ensure that they are mentally capable of discharging their statutory duties effectively”.