Bolanle Raheem: Armed officers must be mentally balanced, NHRC says

The National Human Rights Commission on Tuesday condemned the killing of a female lawyer, Bolanle Raheem by a policeman in Ajah area of Lagos State, saying the culprit “has fallen short of standard operating procedure and professional ethics of the Nigerian 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.”

The Executive Secretary of NHRC, Tony Ojukwu (SAN), said this in a statement by its Deputy Director (Corporate Affairs and External Linkages), Fatimah Mohammed.

He recalled that the commission had gone around the country to train police officers on human rights best practices and how to mainstream human rights in law enforcement operations.

“Yet, we are still recording sad incidents of extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the police officers,” Ojukwu lamented.

While commending the police high command for immediately taking necessary action to arrest and put the errant officer in custody, Ojukwu said the NHRC “will continue to monitor the process of investigation and prosecution of the errant officer to ensure that justice is adequately served.”

Ojukwu commiserated with the family of Raheem, as well as the Nigerian Bar Association.

He regretted that Raheem’s death came as a shock to the commission, adding that there must be a permanent solution to check avoidable killings by the police.

According to him, it was unfortunate to know that the commission had recorded several incidents of extra-judicial killings by the police and vowed to do all that is within its power to ensure that the cases are not swept under the carpet.