Torture is the act of inflicting severe pain on crime suspects
as means of extracting information or confession; it is also used for
punishment, revenge or as act of cruelty. Nigerian police is known for using severe
torture to extract confession from crime suspects. This act is prohibited under
international law. Article 5 of the UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights
considers torture to be a violation of human rights and unacceptable. The United Nations Convention Against Torture
also prohibits confession by torture.
It is an international agreed consensus that torture and
similar ill-treatment are not just immoral, but equally impractical. Amnesty International saddled with the task
of monitoring abuses of human rights has reported widespread torture, inhuman
treatment, corruption and neglect of innocent victims by the Nigeria Police
Force.
Nigeria police torture suspects with gun shots, machete wounds,
burning, hanging upside down, kicking and beating, dismemberment, crushing, impalement
and many more ugly procedures to force out confession, these practices are cruel
and outdated. No suspects should be
tortured during interrogation as it is cheap and unprofessional way of getting
facts out of suspects. All suspects
deserved to be respected until proven otherwise and only a recognized court of
law has the power to decide the punishment for crimes committed based on
relevant evidence as stipulated by the law of the land. The intense torture and pains used by Nigeria
Police often force suspects to confess to sins they have not committed and
these confessions are easily accepted and used to place a criminal charge on
innocent victims in Nigeria. This is
against the international human right law and there is immediate need for
re-training and overhaul of the Nigerian Police and our judicial system. This is getting too dangerous to ignore.
No judicial system should sentence crime suspects based on
mere confessions generated from torture without strong evidence from further
investigation. In Nigeria, suspects are arraigned based on forced confessions
submitted by the unprofessional and corrupt driven investigating officers, with
the confession used as the sole evidence in the court of law, a result of which
many innocent people have been put on death row for offenses they have not
committed. Nigeria criminal judicial
system is riddled with corruption, negligence and nearly criminal lack of
resources. Nigerians are abused daily by
the police and this has to be nipped in the bud by the government establishing
the police system.
The police make-up offenses and force Nigerians to plead
guilty to the offenses, they torture and lock innocent people in prisons cell
once they are not able to meet the monetary demands and this shameful act has
continued with no sign of abating. Nigerians are murdered daily for not confessing
to crimes they have not committed and not agreeing to part with bribe. The life of Nigerians is reduced to no value
by the police and many lives are lost simply for refusing to part way with
their hard earned money. Nigeria Police is simply a joke, openly displaying
their greed and gross negligence.
The primary duty of the police is to enforce the law,
protect properties and lives. A police officer has a legitimized power to use
force and limit civil disorder. This power given to police does not mean
torture and molestation, killing and dismemberment as is the case in
Nigeria. Nigeria police are likely to
commit crimes than work to prevent them. I am not sure an average police on the
street of Nigeria knows the limit of the power imposed on them by the
constitution of the country. They
readily exhibit their show of shame with no iota of retrain. Police shows no respect for Nigerians, they
play god in many situations and the lives of average Nigerian do not always count.
Criminals are released as soon as they part with the money
demanded and justices are easily subverted. The Nigeria Police are broad day armed
robbers, the mention of police sends goose pimples to many Nigerians and everyone
understands the danger of dealing with the police. Most will deal with the
criminals and settle their demands than get the police involved, as the police will
only get the issue more complicated, rather than resolved. It’s simply a big shame.
Nigerians loathe and have no trust for their police because
when they call the police for help, they are mandated to pay for every bit of
help from the police or risk getting wrongly implicated. Nigerians are randomly picked on the street,
tortured and put in prison when the police needs money, they are made to pay
money for their freedom and those with no money are made to call their friends
and relations to raise money to get them out. Many would argue that this daylight kidnapping
and robbery by Nigeria police is because they are poorly paid, but I beg to
defer on this; Nigeria Police are paid better than many other civil servants in
Nigeria, if everyone decides to resort to armed robbery as is the case with the
police, then chaos is imminent. I
believe this shameful act by Nigerian Police is due to greed and selfishness
which is apparent in many other sectors of Nigeria.
Many Nigerians have been sentenced to death for the offenses
not committed and a lot more awaiting trial for various offenses. There may be
an urgent need for the government of Nigeria to declare a moratorium on all
executions and order re-trial following due process as many have been executed
and more due to face execution for offenses they have not committed.
Nollywood is the body representing Nigeria’s movie industry
and is adjudged to be the third largest movie producer in the world, churning
out hundreds of movies on a monthly basis.
I’m a lover of Nollywood movies, but concerned about the content of some
of the movies in regards to torture of suspects in many of the story lines. I
stand to correct the notion that suspects in any crime should be tortured to
force out confession, this is unprofessional and is a lazy way to conclude an
investigation. Script writers’ should write movies that are of international
standards and projecting reforms, putting professionalism before financial
gains.
Our movies should foster change and stop the torture and
molestation which only helps to show Nigeria decrepit police system. Most of
the movies depict crime suspects as criminals and tortured severely by police
officers to force confession. Movie is a great way to teach Nigeria’s corrupt and
lazy police system how to carry out proper investigation. There is need to reduce
torturing of suspects in our movies as if it is the norm. A well written script needs to show the
police investigation process and conclusion to bring criminal charge, not
torture room like gallows.
I enjoin the Nigerian Police and the Government of
Nigeria to act and reform the policing process. No suspects deserved to experience
pain or be tortured to death as is often the case in Nigeria. I petition the inspector
general of police to address these issues as a matter of urgency. Nigerians deserve
better life devoid of torture and molestation.
By Abiola Olaifa (www.abiolla.com, abiolla@gmail.com)
