The recent barbaric, brutal and gruesome ‘murder’ of 4 University of Port Harcourt students in Nigeria has left majority of Nigerians in shock and dismay. Attached is a video excerpt of the incident. Readers’ discretion is strongly advised, as some of the actions therein are very upsetting, and in some cases too gruesome.http://www.naijaurban.com/video-of-the-4-uniport-students-burnt-alive-for-stealling-phones-and-laptops/
The incident has been roundly condemned, but it brings to the fore, the nagging questions of: the quality of justice; the level of trust and (dis)belief in the justice system; what the police should be doing and how communities should collectively deal with such outbursts of irrational emotions. As one commentator rightly stated, the genocide in Rwanda started with such piecemeal actions, before it spiralled into a national conflagration.
The blame must be laid squarely at the door steps of the police. The incident lasted for hours. Where was the police? Agreed the actions of the mob – very few of them if you watch the video clip -were evilly motivated, the intervention of the police would have saved the lives of the students. I don’t buy into the idea of lack of equipment, logistics et al, this was a clear case of a vengenful group of people prepared to take the law into their own hands.
The response of the police was not only shoddy, it was unprofessional, but typical. It shows why the average Nigerian remain lukewarm, unfriendly and hostile to the police. That said, it does not excuse the stone age response of the mob, resorting to jungle justice or self help. Nigerians are increasingly resorting to self-help. I blogged recently about this growing and strange phenomenon. Read here https://wrongfulconvictionsblog.org/2012/06/29/nigeria-trading-justice-for-self-help/
We can only hope that this incident will be investigated by the authorities and they should get to the bottom of the immediate and remote causes of the Port Harcourt incident. A larger remit of the enquiry should seek to understand why Nigerians look down and undermine the police; the nature of the Nigerian police as an institution, its structure and effectiveness. And of course, a conversation about the latest weasel words – the desireability of state or community police. Above all, the perpetrators must be found and made an example of!