By Felix Oladeji
SIR: Policing in a lockdown is a very complex task. From complete misinterpretation of COVID-19 lockdown rules to dealing with citizens who just want to ‘test’ the law by violating them, to the high penchant for the use of force by the police for very minor offences, it is safe to state that most police institutions were unprepared for a pandemic of this nature that fundamentally challenges traditional models of policing and law enforcement.
Chapter 4 (Section 33) of the 1999 Constitution presents a full bouquet of the rights of every Nigerian that must be respected by personnel of the Nigeria Police. The right to life, which remains sacrosanct, is a clear indication that no one has the right to take another person’s life, including operatives of the police. The right to the dignity of the human person, which connotes that no one should be subjected to torture or ill-treatment by security officials, is to be upheld even in a pandemic. On the right to fair hearing, it is especially important for law enforcement officials to be aware of the fact that some residents may have very genuine reasons for stepping out of their homes despite these orders, as in cases of emergency. Although the right to freedom of movement is guaranteed, the suspension of this in a pandemic situation is for the interest of the public, excluding those who can move around on essential duties. What the president has done in this case is to invoke his executive powers as enshrined under the Quarantine Act Section 2-4 to suspend some of these rights to further curtail the spread of the virus. These include the power to declare a place as an infectious area and to take necessary measures to prevent the further spread of the disease (including the deployment of law enforcement officials in this case). These measures include but are not limited to the restriction of movements.
The police have a duty to protect lives and properties. Also, they have a duty to ensure that despite the preventive measures they take, properties and businesses are not looted and that the country does not experience high levels of crime in these peculiar times. The Nigeria Police leadership must be commended in this regard with the regular public notices from the Inspector General of Police ordering tight security around medical facilities, shops and markets, residential areas, financial institutions and Automated Teller Machine points and increasing the level of citizen awareness on possible cyber fraud. These measures are in line with their duties to prevent and protect properties. As the economy must quickly get back on its feet, after the pandemic, it is important that the Police itself or other security officials do not become tools of destruction by destroying the businesses of citizens (who have violated stay-home orders) in the course of enforcing government’s orders.
While we have seen some commendable steps by the police leadership in the swift arrest of its operatives involved in extra-judicial killings and extortion from citizens in this pandemic, the tempo must be sustained post-pandemic. Police oversight bodies have a duty to play their roles in protecting the rights of citizens from violations by Police personnel.
We have seen pictures of law enforcement officials on COVID-19 duties without protective gears, as if they are immune to the virus. It must be noted that coronavirus is no respecter of persons. The provisions of protective equipment and gears, hand sanitisers, face masks, gloves and practicing social distancing are essentials of policing the COVID-19 pandemic at this time. As corporate organisations and state governments across the country make essential donations and provisions of equipment to other critical institutions, the police must not be left out to fend for itself. The duty to curtail the spread of COVID-19 should essentially adopt a whole-of-society approach.
- Felix Oladeji, Lagos.
