Commissioner of Police urged to bring killer cop to book

The Commissioner of Police of the Lagos State Command, Umar Manko, has been urged to check policemen in the state who are beginning to mount roadblocks under dubious pretences.
The call was made by the Network on Police Reforms in Nigeria, which also wanted Manko to ensure a prompt, impartial and exhaustive investigation of all the police officers involved in the illegal operation of a police checkpoint at Alakija area of Festac Town, by policemen attached to Area ‘E’ Command, Lagos.
At the checkpoint, a 33-year-old Oyoma Edewor was shot dead by a police officer identified as Sergeant Otene Godwin.
The deceased was shot by Godwin on May 10, 2014 at about 11pm in Alakija area of Festac Town.
Godwin was alleged to have abandoned his duty post as the Station Guard at Area ‘E’ Command and left for Alakija area where the unfortunate incident occurred.
NOPRIN’s National Coordinator, Okechukwu Nwanguma, said: “While we note that the Lagos State Police Command also confirmed the arrest of Sergeant Otene Godwin with Force Number 355272, we also wish to urge that investigation into this case must be prompt, impartial and exhaustive, and must lead to justice.
“The fact that the Sergeant in question abandoned his duty post as the station guard and joined with others to set up an illegal ‘road block’ or ‘a checkpoint’ clearly indicates that they were on an illegal duty to extort money.”
Nwanguma noted with concern the resurgence of ‘police checkpoints’ across the state, adding: “To the best of our knowledge, the directive of the Inspector General of Police banning police checkpoints across Nigeria is still in force. We are however worried that police officers in many parts of Lagos State hide under different dubious pretexts to continue to flout the IGP’s directive. Many of the documented and undocumented incidents of police abuse take place at these illegal checkpoints which are nothing more than avenues for extortion, harassment and extrajudicial killings.
“While we do not encourage citizens to disregard police lawful orders to stop for checks when necessary, we say emphatically that police officers shooting to kill citizens for disregarding such orders even when such citizens pose no threat to them or to others cannot be justified or excused on any grounds.
“The fact that the driver of the commercial van towing the victim’s accidented vehicle ignored the orders of the police officers, at the checkpoint, to stop did not warrant or justify the reckless abuse of fire arms and excessive use of force by the police officer to murder an unarmed citizen. Even, if the police officers suspected that the vehicle was stolen, they could have used less lethal means to apprehend the occupants and bring charges against them in court.”