NHRC: In Most Cases, Police Lie About Sanctioning Officers Guilty Of Extra-judicial Killings

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Nwokocha stated that the Police shield erring officers from prosecution and transfer them to another station instead of holding them accountable for their actions and prosecuting them

Uche Nwokocha, South East Coordinator of National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), has accused the Nigeria Police Force of covering up for officers found guilty of extra-judicial killings.

She also decried the high level of impunity that exists within the Nigeria Police Force. Nwokocha stated that the Police shield erring officers from prosecution and transfer them to another station instead of holding them accountable for their actions and prosecuting them, The Sun newspaper reported.

Speaking on Tuesday at the Public Tribunal on Police Corruption, Brutality and Abuse in Southern Nigeria in Owerri, Imo State, Nwokocha also said the zone has been experiencing an increase in extrajudicial activities.

She said: “There is a high level of impunity and extortion, with illegal checkpoints at every one pole, and those who refuse to give in to the extortion by these armed policemen would be severely manhandled.

“Some unfortunate ones have ended up being killed and, thereafter, framed as armed robbers.

“The extra-judicial killings by officers of the SARS is frightening and efforts by the NHRC and the Network of Police Reforms in Nigeria, to get the police accountable for these extra-judicial killings have failed.

“In most cases, the Police will lie that the culprit has been dismissed, when, in fact, they have been transferred."

She also revealed that in the zone, SARS officers are used as debt collectors, as well as for settlements of land and even family disputes, which are simply civil matters.