Recently, Enugu State was on fire as several youths poured into the streets in protest against the shooting and killing by a police officer of a popular ogene genre of music exponent, Mr Chikezie Nwamba, known as Igbo-Jah.
He was inexplicably shot and killed by a policeman, Mr Joseph Ozonwaji, while about leaving the premises of Anti-Cult Tactical Squad Unit in Enugu after visiting them. The culprit has since been arrested by the police who announced that trial against him had begun. It came in the wake of the call by the Enugu State Governor, Mr Peter Mba, for full investigations into the killing.
But as in all such cases, no amount of investigations or punitive measures can bring back the slain musician. Nevertheless, it remains a very sad commentary that police officers who should be protecting the citizenry keep killing them, often without provocation; even though they should still show restraint when provoked.
The killing of innocent citizens by the police and other branches of the nation’s armed forces did not start today. On November 18, 1949, about 21 coal miners in Enugu were felled by police bullets while protesting for better working conditions. Since then many incidences of such, had been recorded.
If the police are not killing citizens at checkpoints, they are killing them during protests. The most recent was the killing of about ten protesters during the #EndSars protests in Lagos, though the government had kept denying there were no deaths.
Indeed, it has become the norm after each incident, to hear from the police hierarchy that those involved would be punished but many times little or nothing is heard about it. Does it then mean that the police authorities have been treating such matters with kid gloves? Such a question has become necessary in the face of the frequent occurrence of such killings.
Really, it makes sense to suppose that the police authorities are not doing enough about such killings; hence, their frequent occurrences. Members of the armed forces, especially the police, owe it as a sacred duty to protect the citizenry with whose taxes the armed personnel are paid.
But because this has not been the case in Nigeria, the relationship between the public and members of the armed forces, especially the police, is often sour. And being that the police always expect the members of the public to give them information in solving crimes, such a sour relationship doesn’t help.
The recent shooting and killing of Citizen Nwamba is highly vexatious and unacceptable and we demand that the highest form of punishment be meted out on the culprit. The members of the armed forces should cease venting their frustrations on members of the public but should transfer that to dealing with criminals.
Our society has had enough of unprovoked aggression by men in uniform on the hapless citizenry and should this continue, members of the public will be right in believing that the concerned authorities are treating such matters with kid gloves.
Anyone who legally carries a gun as a member of the nation’s armed forces, should act gently and respectfully towards the civil population. Wearing a uniform does not and should not confer on anyone the licence to harass, brutalize or kill innocent citizens. We say, enough is enough.
