Wanton killing of policemen

The incessant killing of policemen has reached a disturbing level; threatening the country’s already frail security situation. The last of this dastardly act occurred in the early hours of Thursday, February 25, 2021, when gunmen shot and killed four policemen at a checkpoint in Calabar, the Cross River State capital. The gunmen were said to have swooped on the policemen in Ayanmbat community near Idundu in the Aka Efa area of Calabar. Six bodies, including of two civilians, were seen at the scene of the attack.

The state’s Commissioner of Police (CP), Sikiru Kayode Akande, confirmed that suspected cultists shot and killed four of his men, but that the police succeeded not only in recovering some of the arms the suspects carted away but also arrested many of the culprits.

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CP Kayode further said the officers were not on official duty at the location of the incident; adding that the checkpoint where they were killed was formerly used by the military.

The incident in Cross River happened barely 24 hours after some policemen were killed in Aguta Local Government Area of Anambra State. On Wednesday, February 24, hoodlums attacked a police station where four police officers were killed and the station set on fire. A day earlier, hoodlums in the early hours of Tuesday, February 23, 2021, attacked policemen on patrol around Uratta area of Aba, Abia State, killing two policemen. Media reports indicate that the suspected hoodlums numbering about 20 were seen wielding dangerous weapons.

Policemen across the country have become vulnerable to attacks in recent times. Statistics from Daily Trust shows that since this year began, no week passed without policemen being killed by criminal elements. Between January and February, 2021, a total of 62 police officers and men have so far been killed in various locations across the country. While 10 policemen were killed in each of weeks five and seven of this year, 15 policemen were killed last week; the highest casualty figure in a week.

The killing of the policemen occurred in 15 states of the federation: six in the North and nine in the South. While one policeman was killed by DSS personnel, another was a fellow policeman’s victim. Five were accident victims and eight others were victims of Boko Haram attacks. Others killed within the period under reference died from attacks launched by gunmen, bandits, armed robbers, hoodlums, kidnappers and cultists. A report by Daily Trust indicated that members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) were the major culprits in the acts.

We condemn in strong terms the wanton killing of police personnel by criminal elements in parts of the country. With a huge deficit already in the number of police personnel needed to maintain law and order, their killing will only compound existing challenges of internal security further. The police represent the state. Their killing, therefore, constitutes a war against the state.

We support the Conference of Concerned Igbo Elders for Peace and National Unity (CIEPNU) which has called on South East governors to collectively and decisively tackle IPOB that routinely kills policemen and burn their stations. As obtains in other spheres, the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) must as a matter of responsibility find and prosecute killers of its personnel to deter potential perpetrators. Government should also realise that averting attacks on policemen requires a properly-trained and well-equipped police force.

The job of policing the country is better appreciated when policemen desert the roads or withdraw from routine patrol. Such was the experience when Nigerians begged them to come back after they left their duty posts during the last #EndSARS protests. Citizens should respect and revere the police. Wanton attacks on police personnel are unacceptable.