Joshua Ibanga: The unending scourge of police brutality

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THE Delta State Police Command is in the news again, and for all the wrong reasons. Once more, officers are accused of taking a human life with chilling brutality.

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This time, the victim is Joshua Ibanga, popularly known as Amadi. He was allegedly chased into a river and stoned to death, a killing so barbaric that it belongs in the annals of mob justice, not in the conduct of officers sworn to uphold the law.

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The incident comes barely months after five police officers attached to the command were dismissed over the April 16 killing of 28-year-old Mene Ogidi in Effurun, Delta State. Ogidi was reportedly restrained on the ground before being shot at close range by ASP Nuhu Usman.

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According to the deceased’s brother, Victor Amadi, the March 31 tragedy in Ubeji, Warri, began after a police informant, who allegedly had a personal grudge against Joshua, identified him to officers while he was sitting with a toddler.

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Victor told The PUNCH that his brother fled after being pointed out. Eyewitnesses reportedly said the officers chased him into a river and repeatedly hurled stones at his head until they believed he was dead before calmly driving away in their patrol van. If true, this was not law enforcement; it was a savage execution.

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The deceased’s brother also alleged that the five officers initially denied before their superiors that they stoned Amadi to death.

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Yet again, the police have found themselves at the centre of allegations of gross human rights abuses and extrajudicial killing.

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According to the family, Joshua died because of the command’s entrenched culture of extortion and human rights abuses. Such conduct stands in complete contradiction to the constitutional duty of the police, which is to protect lives and property, not destroy them.

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If these allegations are established, they would painfully recall an incident in Lagos more than two decades ago when police officers allegedly chased a suspect into a swamp and watched him drown, frustrating every attempt he made to escape by threatening to shoot him.

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Such cases raise disturbing questions about the mindset of officers who commit atrocities with apparent impunity and carry on as though nothing happened.

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This latest allegation must not be swept under the carpet. An autopsy should be conducted without delay, while every officer implicated should be suspended pending a thorough, transparent and independent investigation. Police brutality remains one of the gravest threats Nigerians face from those paid to protect them.

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This ugly reality persists despite repeated assurances by the Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, that he would sanitise the Force. He owes Nigerians more than promises. He must give practical effect to his publicly declared “zero-tolerance stance on extra-judicial actions, abuse of authority, and any conduct that undermines public trust.”

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Following the Effurun killing, Disu ordered the transfer of officers connected to the case as well as the arrest and prosecution of the alleged perpetrators. While these directives are commendable, they echo similar pronouncements by his predecessors that ultimately failed to stem the tide of abuse.

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The persistence of these atrocities suggests that the problem is no longer a lack of policy but a lack of enforcement. Unless errant officers are swiftly investigated, prosecuted and punished, impunity will continue to flourish. Audits of police operations, investigations of rogue units and promises of discipline are meaningless without decisive consequences.

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Meanwhile, Amnesty International, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Intersociety and other civil society organisations continue to document widespread police abuses and, in many cases, seek legal redress for victims.

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Quoting Global Rights, Amnesty International reported that the Nigerian Police were responsible for 848 extrajudicial killings between 2020 and June 2023. That figure is both staggering and shameful.

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The pattern is tragically familiar. In October 2011, a trigger-happy police officer shot Emmanuel Victor dead at a checkpoint in Yenagoa as he returned from church with his mother. The officer, now sentenced to death, absurdly claimed that the victim tried to seize his rifle.

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The Ibanga case must not suffer the familiar fate of public outrage followed by official silence. That danger is even greater because the victim’s family says it lacks the resources to pursue legal action against the police.

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The National Human Rights Commission should investigate this and similar cases, while the Legal Aid Council should provide pro bono legal representation to families seeking justice. Joshua Ibanga’s family deserves accountability, justice and the closure that only the rule of law can provide.

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Police brutality has no place in any civilised society. It is an affront to democracy, justice and human dignity. Human rights desks in police stations have clearly failed to curb this menace. What Nigeria now needs is not another committee or another promise, but swift prosecution, meaningful punishment and zero tolerance for officers who turn their uniforms into licences to kill.

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