On Tuesday, the National Human Rights Commission condemned the shooting of Bolanle Raheem, a female lawyer, by a police officer in the Lagos State neighborhood of Ajah saying the culprit “has fallen short of standard operating procedure and professional ethics of the Nigeria Police Force.”
While regretting the incident, the commission called on the police hierarchy “to as a matter of necessity, always ensure that officers who bear arms must, by all means, be mentally balanced and respect the rules of engagement of the police force saying enough is enough of these avoidable deaths.”
This was said by Tony Ojukwu (SAN), the NHRC’s Executive Secretary, in a statement made by Fatimah Mohammed, the Deputy Director (Corporate Affairs and External Linkages).
He recounted how the committee had traveled the nation teaching police officers about the best ways to uphold human rights and integrate them into their work.
“Yet, we are still recording sad incidents of extrajudicial killings perpetrated by the police officers,” Ojukwu lamented.
The NHRC “will continue to monitor the process of investigation and prosecution of the errant officer to ensure that justice is adequately served,” Ojukwu said, commending the police high command for acting swiftly to arrest and place the faulty officer in custody.
Ojukwu expressed sympathy to the Nigerian Bar Association and Raheem’s family.
He expressed sadness that the commission was caught off guard by Raheem’s passing and emphasized the need for a long-term strategy to stop unnecessary killings by the police.
He stated that it was regrettable to learn that the commission had documented multiple instances of extrajudicial murders by police and had committed to do everything in its power to prevent the cases from being dismissed.
