Inhumanity amongst the people

Several years ago, it was to an extent, a right when a man kills a fellow man, provided he has candid reasons for doing so. Till this very minute, a lot of underground crimes are ongoing and it is sickening.

There are days when a man is being killed for stealing in the market places, or in some coded places for one reason or the other. And I wonder for how long this is going to be for!

We as humans should understand that inflicting pains on others for a reason or two is the same as rendering them helpless by force.

The Human Right

This is an inherent right that is set to govern and protect the lives and properties of the people, regardless of their status. But today, they are only entitlements for the well-to-do in the country. The masses have been rendered voiceless, helpless and striped off all rights and obligations.

The system of democracy is supposed to be a government of the people, for the people and by the people. For without the people there is no government, therefore, the major obligation of the government, is to protect and uphold the people.

The Human right states; there’s a right to life, to owning a property, to a fair hearing, etc. If for instance, a man tried to rape a girl, be it his wife, sister, girlfriend, close friend or colleague, and in the process failed at his attempt, will the man go unpunished just because he didn’t succeed?

Rather, if he is unpunished, he definitely will do it to someone else, over and over again, because he has some certain justified reasons for hurting others. But if the case is thereby, intercepted by the locals and jungle law is being passed on, then, the people involved should all face the law.

Jungle Justice

This is mostly a group of locals backed up by some heads, elders, chiefs and traditional rulers in the society. They take laws into their own hands and mostly for a biased cause, because they believe the authorities do not handle the justice system with firm hands. In some cases, they tend to be the mastermind behind some political feud; both in the local and executive level because, some of these top politicians hire them to do their dirty work.

Often times, they cause chaos and disagreement during political debates, road constructions and during land surveys. These people have strong backings from important and well-to-do members of the society, and when they compromise the justice system, they do not get arrested.

The Police and the Law

The Police in our country Nigeria are not what they ought to be. This is because, due to the greediness of our leaders who vehemently contributed to the devaluation of the Nigeria Naira, and thereby causing the focus of the individual Nigerian to be basically fixed at making money. With high inflation, poor market values and no price control, an average businessman finds a way of manipulating his market value.

A high percentage of the Nigeria Police Force abuses the law. They have no respect for lives and properties; they are only friendly with those big boys who give the Police money every now and then to allow them free passage whenever they have illegal businesses to transact. A case study of a young girl and her brother going to the mall a few months ago, these two fellows were on a motorbike and on their way intercepted by the police. Stop there, the police man waved, the motorbike stopped and the police man and his colleague approached them.

Police man: What is in your pocket?

The boy: They are empty, I only have my mobile phone with me, he replied.

Police Man: Are you sure?

The boy: Empties both pockets.

The police man later proceeded towards the boy in attempt to search him, with his hands already moving around the boy’s back pockets, reaching towards his wallet in an attempt to opening it, the sister said; Sir is anything the matter? One of the policemen looked at the young girl with a scorn and replied, what is your business, are you trying to stop us from doing our job?

The young girl answered, Sir, he is my brother and you instructed the motor biker to stop and since then you haven’t mentioned any reason to us. Just by hearing this, the police man started using bad language on the girl. Calling her names of all sorts, the girl was surprised and demanded the policeman behaved because, she has every right to know what was going on.

You are a prostitute, irresponsible child; we are old enough to be your father blah, blah, blah. The girl replied, if I am a prostitute, then you are a male prostitute looking for whom to obtain, just by saying this, the policemen gathered around, pulling her by her jacket, dragging her by the arm and threatening to go throw her in jail.

You cannot arrest me because I asked a question, I am not a criminal and you have no case against me. They all started raining curses and abuses on her in Yoruba language, her brother became very sad, not knowing what to do, a good man passing by, intervened and started questioning why they have the girl inside their van. The brother explained what had happened, and by this time the sister tried to call the army barracks to come to her aide for she was being harassed by the police. One of the police tried to cease her phone and she screamed in tears, don’t touch my phone, it is my right to make a phone call. I suppose this is not a kidnapping!!

The brother somehow wanted to go notify their relatives around, then the good man who had been talking with the policemen, told them they were messing with the kids unjustly. They overheard the boy talking to someone in the army and so, they decided to let them go.

Every now and then an innocent citizen is being abused and harassed by the Nigeria Police. If the law enforcement agencies cannot uphold the law and protect the rights of the citizens, who will?

The Judiciary

This arm of government has an ultimate role to play in interpreting the law. The Supreme Court is paramount to reviewing the appropriate laws and punishment therewith. But it feels like the supreme is no longer a pillar of the justice system, by granting bails and appeals for hardened criminal offences and the likes.

Overseas, there’s a sector reserved for protecting and preserving the prisons. Each prisoner has rights to life and fair hearing and therefore, they are not condemned to die of lack or ill-health. The government takes proper care of their prisoners, engaging them in life changing activities, where some of them are allowed to work, do voluntary jobs, learn a craft and so on. The purpose for these developments are mainly to create a more useful generation regardless of their criminal status.

But our country Nigeria is the opposite, even the prisoners come out with more criminal intents than ever before, and they have no remorse for their actions. In prison, they’re hardly fed, cared for not to mention the surroundings, very unkempt. They’re neglected, rejected and psychologically condemned with no hope for a second chance or future.

There are some with medically explained disabilities and psychological dysfunctions but due to improper health care system, none of these problems are tackled. Even a sane and well-behaved Nigerian has no access to proper medical care, talk less a convicted fellow.

“Ever heard of the word, Therapy? We should try it out, it definitely will help give some closure to some confused individuals with bipolar etc.

“The law is our pride, without it we are helpless”

Written by; Joyous Akhivbareme.