Anambra State-born human rights lawyer and lead counsel to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, has condemned the alleged use of lethal force against unarmed civilians at the popular Ogbo-Ogwu Head Bridge Market in Onitsha , Anambra State on Wednesday.
Ejiofor also called for an immediate, thorough, impartial, transparent and independent investigation into the circumstances surrounding the deeply disturbing incident.
The human rights lawyer made the call while reacting to reports of the shooting of an unarmed trader by police officers in Onitsha on Thursday.
“I call upon the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, and the Commissioner of Police, Anambra State Command, to ensure an immediate, independent and painstaking investigation into the incident; identify every officer who discharged a firearm or otherwise participated in any unlawful excesses; establish the circumstances and, where culpability is established, ensure that the law takes its full and uncompromising course,” he stated.
According to him, accounts presently emerging from traders at the market contain serious allegations that some police personnel routinely operate within the market, ostensibly for enforcement purposes, but allegedly subject traders to persistent harassment, arrests and demands for gratification.
He said these grave allegations, if established, demand urgent institutional scrutiny and appropriate accountability.
Ejiofor said, more disturbingly, that it was alleged that on Wednesday morning, a trader leaving the market with a carton of goods was pursued by policemen and, after reportedly failing to stop, was shot at close range.
According to him, the incident allegedly triggered a subsequent civil protest, during which allegations of indiscriminate police shooting reportedly resulted in serious injuries and loss of lives.
He said the development represents a deeply disturbing departure from the constitutional and professional responsibilities of law-enforcement officers to protect life, preserve public order and exercise their powers with restraint, necessity and proportionality.
According to him, a civilian protest, however tense or disorderly, cannot by itself become a licence for the indiscriminate deployment of lethal force.
“The dead cannot speak for themselves. The injured deserve justice. The bereaved deserve answers. And the public deserves the truth.
“I trust that the leadership of the Nigeria Police Force will rise above institutional sentiment, investigate without fear or favour, and demonstrate that the uniform is a shield for the citizen, not a licence to violate the citizen,” he added.
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