*Policemen must provide mental status report, says lawyer

A lawyer, Tope Temokun, has written an open letter to the Inspector General Police, Usman Baba, over the killing of a Lagos-based lawyer, Bolanle Raheem, by a policeman.

Temokun, in his Tuesday letter, made available to our correspondent, condemned the killing of Raheem, asking the IGP to ensure that all police officials were made to provide medical reports of their mental status henceforth.

The lawyer said Raheem’s case was only popular, adding that many innocent Nigerians had died in a similar manner, even on a daily basis.

“Everything we had said in cases like this in the past had been said. The IGP had described the shooting by the policeman as unfortunate and ordered a speedy investigation and prosecution. The Nigerian Bar Association has also said it would ensure that justice is served in this case, vowing to monitor the case closely to ensure justice is served. But we need to introspect further and ask: What exactly will serve as true justice in this case?

“We note that there is an outcry on this cold murder because of the profile of the victim. But many innocent citizens are fallen daily by police bullets in this country and many have died and buried unsung,” he said.

“With the benefit of hindsight, therefore, we, of Lawyers Arise for Justice, call on the NBA not to merely issue official statement and go to sleep but to mobilise its ranks and come out with a charter of demands on the presidency, routed towards the root cause of this murder too many and make categorical demands as follows:

“A call for full compliance with the IGP’s directive when he assumed office; declaring all police checkpoints on our roads illegal, demanding that all illegal checkpoints on all the roads of the country be dismantled forthwith.

“The NBA should call on volunteers and set up a Civilian Monitoring Body that will henceforth monitor compliance with rules of civil engagement with the citizens and report to the NBA periodically on violations which report shall further form a position paper to the presidency on punitive measures to the erring police officers from time to time and to further call for further reforms in the force;

“Police officers in Nigeria must henceforth be made to present medical certificates of mental status every six months, just like the way doctors renew practicing licenses and lawyers too renew their right of practice and audience before the court annually before they can be eligible for civil engagement.

“There must be regulation that a police officer who has not submitted his mental status medical report from a government psychiatric hospital shall not be considered fit to engage the civilian population as a police officer and such officer shall not be allowed to carry a gun or be sent out to the street for any policing engagement whatsoever.

“The policemen who will engage in stop and search, allowed by the law, should not display long guns, now being carried around by Nigeria Police like terrorists, but should only be allowed to use guns which could be tucked in their uniform and which should only be pulled out when there is justification, as they do in those countries of civilised human beings.”

Temokun added, “At the assumption of office, the IGP declared that police checkpoints on our roads were henceforth illegal and put in place a monitoring group to apprehend police offenders but till date, we don’t have public records of police officers who violated this order nor that were apprehended and punished.”

He called on the IGP to make public the full identity of the killer of Raheem and the findings of the police on the killing as well as to publish names of police officers who had been caught and punished for violating the “no more checkpoint order” of the IGP.

The killing of Raheem has continued to spark outrage among Nigerians, with many calling for justice.

That there was pandemonium in the Ajah area of Lagos State on Sunday when a policeman attached to the Ajah Police Station shot dead the female lawyer, Raheem.

That the incident threw the community into confusion as the cop, who was with a team of policemen, fled the scene.

He was, however, caught and detained by the police.

It was learnt that Raheem, her sister, and four children were coming from an eatery in their car around 11am when the cop tried to stop them.

A source said the woman was trying to make a U-turn under the Ajah Bridge when the cop shot at her vehicle. The bullet was said to have hit the victim; she was rushed to a hospital, where she was confirmed dead.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the incident, adding that the officer was in custody.

He said, “The officer involved in the shooting is an ASP. He has been arrested, detained, and will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, for further investigations.”