Police invasion of private hostel UNIZIK

LAST week, there was concern and outrage among the student community of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State, when police officers from the Anambra State Police Command’s Special Anti-Cult Unit allegedly broke into Prince Godwin Lodge, a private hostel housing students in Ifite, Awka South Local Government Area of ​​the state, in an effort to apprehend suspected fraudsters. According to reports, because there had been robberies in the area in recent times, the students had thought they were under siege by robbers again, until the policemen in jackets marked SPAC broke down the doors of some of the flats. During the invasion, which took place at dawn, the police officers allegedly broke into a naked student’s room, beat her into anesthesia and asked her to identify the fraudsters in the hostel. The alleged victim said: “They broke down the door and entered my flat. They beat me and I was naked.” The police officers further assaulted many of the students, claiming they did not know of any fraudsters.

Naturally, the government of the student union reacted angrily to the incident. In a statement, the public relations officer of the student body, Ikechukwu Dikeojo, said: “These unprofessional coercives raided the student lodges at around 4am in the early hours of Sunday, January 22, with criminal intent. They harassed our students and forcibly confiscated their phones, laptops, money and other valuables. They even threatened to gang rape one of our female students who raised the alarm when they noticed their plans for her. Still, they took her phone, laptop, money and PS4 game. They forcibly broke down students’ doors, illegally gaining access to student rooms simply because they claimed they were looking for internet fraudsters (Yahoo Boys) in Ifite.” The students therefore issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the police commissioner to call the SPAC to order and return all phones, laptops, PS4 games and money forcibly collected from the victims “or the entire facing the anger of students”. However, in response to the development, the police’s Public Relations Officer, Ikenganyia Anthony, said that the investigation into the matter had begun, adding that the leadership of the student union had been informed to take the victims to the command’s headquarters.

Certainly, police officers who fight crime, including among students, are in place. However, since the target area is a student hostel, the police officers should have contacted the school authorities and management of the said hostel to get the alleged suspects booked. If media reports of this sordid incident show anything, it’s the fact that the SPAC men in question failed to exercise due diligence before raiding the hostel. It’s a terrible investigative tactic to bust into a frat house and beat up everyone in sight, for the purpose of extracting information about Internet fraudsters. Even if the battered students knew the fraudsters the police were after, nothing in Nigeria’s law books allowed the police to force a confession through the use of brute force, and in such circumstances that could easily lead to a demonstration or could lead to social unrest. Suspects can be arrested without harming innocent students.

Time and time again, stories have appeared in the media about police officers beating ladies while they are naked and in their own homes. This is so sad. Ladies, and indeed all Nigerian citizens, should be treated with dignity. Invading people’s privacy and mistreating them for no valid reason is not police work; it is a gross violation of human rights. Barging into student hostels in the middle of the night, ostensibly in the quest to apprehend suspects, making your way to their rooms by breaking in doors and windows, and encountering innocent girls in varying degrees of nudity is completely unprofessional and crass. Molesting innocent girls in their hostels cannot be considered one of the unintended consequences of the attack on fraudsters. Even in war, there are conventions and consequences for their violation. The police should look for a more decent way to carry out their duties. It is difficult to understand what kind of criminals in a student house would justify the invasion of mobilized police personnel at 4 am. parents and NGOs to take up this cause.

Significantly, the police have promised to investigate this unwanted invasion. We expect the findings to be made public so that the police would be seen as unauthorized for the ugly invasion. We also expect civil society and non-governmental organizations to involve the police in the promised investigation to ensure that the matter is not swept under the rug. It is important to include the necessary respect for the dignity of citizens in the operational framework of the police to prevent blatant abuse of innocent people in the performance of duties. This is the way to ensure a more civilized and dignified approach that would command the respect and cooperation of the society.

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