By Ifeanyi OKOLIE
AS the rage over the alleged murder of  Lagos socialite, Mr. Femi Best  by Mr. Muhammed Babamala, a Superintendent  of Police, in front of the Onipanu  Police Station, on Ikorodu  Road, in Lagos, is yet to subside ,and  the police authorities have vowed to  bring the alleged killer to book.But not a few Nigerians had believed that such extra-judicial killing will cease and that the police authorities would re-orientate their officers on the proper use of firearms.

Last Monday’s slaying of Ismaila and three others who were injured in an unprovoked shooting by policemen from the Amukoko Police Station, has placed an inevitable scare in the hearts of residents of the area and also on the lives of relatives of Ismalia, who was said to have recently completed his apprenticeship as a auto electrician and  had anticipated to celebrate his graduation on December 27, before his life was cut short, by a trigger-happy  policemen identified  as Akeem.

Crime Guard leant that Ismaila had left his Orope Street residence, for Onishapa, a neighbouring street, in company of his peers and relatives to watch the English Premier League match between Manchester United and Arsenal Football Club. But he became a victim and never lived to tell the  story  as some policemen at the Ashafa junction, few metres away to the centre, started firing shots indiscriminately.

Speaking on the incident, the manager of the viewing centre, Mr Gaffar Raji, said as the shootings became intense, scores of the curious viewers made efforts to run for their dear lives. “But, Isamaila  was not lucky enough, he was hit by a bullet on his back.

First, I did not know he was hit but after a while I heard a painful scream and  thereafter I saw him lying in a pool of blood and he was jerking like a dying man. I was so confused and really do not know what to do and I screamed for help and after a while people rushed in. Moments later the policemen came and took him away.”

But Gaffar and some other eyewitness at the scene could not explain why the policemen were shooting at that time.  Gaffar explained that the area was calm and peaceful as at the time the police started firing indiscriminately.“There was no violence at that time, the entire area was calm and peaceful. The match was yet to start and the entire area was very calm. E veryone was in a hurry to watch the match and I was also trying to collect the fee from them. But, shockingly, we heard rounds of shots  from a police van that was parked at Ashafa junction. Sincerely, I don’t know what provoked those shootings and I also could  not say what the police van was doing at the junction.”

Also, one of the victims, Mr. Sanjo Tiamiyu (22),  who  was shot on his left knee, explained how he narrowly escaped, stating that he sat right beside the deceased before he was killed: “ I was just lucky. I and Ismaila left home together and we sat  close to each other at the viewing centre. But, when the  police started shooting we all ran out of the place. I even did not know I was shot.

I was scared when I heard my brother screamed painfully from  the viewing centre and he died before we rushed him to the hospital. This is horrible; the police in this area are treating us like animals.  You can imagine how they were shooting indiscriminately, without any premonition that  bullet could hit anybody. If not for God, I would have been dead just like my cousin (Ismaila), it was like a dream.’‘

However, for some trigger-happy policemen, the saying, “the leopard can  never change its spot  holds sway”. Last Monday’s killing of a 21-year-old  man, Ismaila Sanni, and the wounding of three others including a 10-year-old boy, at the  Amukoko area of Lagos, has brought to the fore the danger posed to the lives of Nigerians by police misbehaviour, and not a few Nigerians have condemned the police actions.

Dr. Kola Adekoya, a lawyer and a human rights observer, opined that  the slaying of  these young men within one week by  policemen who should have  protected them, has shown how  dangerous  Nigerian  societies  have become, with  the presence  of ill-trained, gun-totting policemen prowling the streets. “It is no news that policemen in Nigeria are unprofessional, though they have received accolades during United Nations’ peace-keeping missions, their conduct back home, especially the incessant killing of innocent citizens  has become worrisome to all. We wonder why the Police High Command is yet to start intense retraining and overhauling of its officers, in order to  meet the required standard of modern policing.”

Some other concerned citizens, including the President of  Social Justice Advocacy (SJA), Demean Ugwu, have highlighted indiscipline and poor training as the factors militating against police ability in protecting the citizen’s fundamental human rights.

He argued that extra-judicial killings were on the increase because such trigger-happy policemen and officers were never punished. “With years gone by, it is a shame that the Nigeria Police Force cannot discipline its officers. It is obvious that they  have forgotten  the rules guiding the use of firearms, and we can all see how it is affecting them, but I’m tracing  their problems to their training. Most of the policemen  were poorly trained and it is gravely affecting their performance.”

“Nevertheless, the  government needs to act quickly in revamping the entire police force if they must provide  a  much better and well-secured society. This is also time for the Police High Command to proffer stiffer punishment for its men and officers found culpable in any  form of extra-judicial killing and the wrongful use of firearms. This I am optimistic would change the attitude of the police to the public magnificently.”