The police headquarters yesterday said the report of the National Human Rights Commission accusing policemen of unlawful killing of 5,000 detainees annually across the country was not correct.
The Chairman, Governing Council of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, said recently at a workshop on the Nigerian Criminal Justice System in Abuja that police executes over 5,000 detainees summarily every year, adding that officers responsible for the killings were never punished.
The police headquarters’ spokesman, Olusola Amore, a deputy commissioner, said the commission did not consult with the police to substantiate the actual number of people killed illegally.
“I am not aware of the report because the commission did not consult the police to verify the actual number. I don’t know how they arrived at that but it’s their opinion and they are entitled to their opinion,” he said.
Amore said even though there may be some incident of extra-judicial killing carried out by the police, but the number given by the commission wasn’t precise. “I can’t say there was no case of extra-judicial killing by the police. During the fuel subsidy protest, a DPO was allegedly said to have fired shots that led to the death of a protester in Lagos and he was arrested,” the police spokesperson.
The human rights boss earlier said: “By some estimates, the police execute over 5,000 detainees summarily every year.
“We have a criminal justice system that is unable to catch those who violate its rules; unable to ensure accountability even for the most basic crimes; detains those whom it cannot convict often for longer than it can hold them if it were to convict them; and, without consequences, kills many on whom it can’t even pin any charges of criminal conduct.”