“Medicine after death”: HURIWA knocks Police over cheques to deceased officers

▪︎ Says Police should invest in training, life-saving equipment, housing

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA), on Sunday, knocked the Nigeria Police Force over the presentation of huge amount of money to the families of deceased and damagingly injured police officers who won’t have died in the first place if the Force did the needful.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, described as “medicine after death”, the action of the Force, saying rather than presenting money to the grieving families of police officers, the police authorities should invest in efficient training of their personnel, life-saving equipment and ammunition, housing, social welfare and good salaries that will motivate police men to give in their all in all and protect their lives from daredevil criminal.

The group said many police officers would not have died if they had the right fighting tools and the necessary motivations.

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In January 2023, the then Inspector General of Police(IGP), Usman Baba presented a check of N13Billion to police officers killed and critically injured while on duty between 2012 and 2020.

A total of 6,128, families of deceased personnel and injured police officers were expected to benefit from the money.

Also, in July 2023, the Acting IGP Kayode Egbetokun presented cheques worth N535.6 million to 68 families of officers who lost their lives in the line of duty and for officers who suffered permanent deformities in the course of duty.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The humongous benefits paid out to several deceased police operatives demonstrates one thing: inefficiency and ineffectiveness in the policing strategies in Nigeria.

“It also shows the lack of adequate life-saving equipment and infrastructure to power an efficient policing system in Nigeria. The police must strengthen their training components and intelligence gathering as a way to reduce the high costs paid by the government for police operatives killed.

“The police also need introspective and holistic reforms to eradicate extra-judicial execution of suspects in police custody which some observers believe is the genesis of the hate motivated attacks targeting police operatives and strategic policing infrastructures all over Nigeria and especially in the South East.

“Also, constitutional amendment is vital to create regional and state police that will enhance community policing, guarantee stability, and the return of peace.”