Nigeria Experiences Crime Boom
Pastor Dale Morgan
Nov 30, 4:30 AM EST
*Nigeria Experiences Crime Boom*
By EDWARD HARRIS
Associated Press Writer
LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- Men carrying AK-47s leap from late-model Mercedes
Benz sedans and burst into a Tex-Mex restaurant, training their weapons
on tables crowded with foreign workers, greasy fajita pans, Corona beer
bottles and ashtrays.
"On the ground, you white monkeys!" one bearded robber shouted at
customers scrambling to the floor, as another rifle-butted the skull of
a man trying to instigate a diners' revolt. "Everyone empty your pockets!"
The brazen raid was just one of many in what Nigerians call a
post-military rule crime wave, and a debate over how civilian
administrations are responding reached new levels in recent weeks after
police announced they had killed hundreds of suspected armed robbers.
In the three-month period after President Umaru Yar'Adua's May 29
inauguration marked the first-ever hand-over of power between civilian
governments, 785 armed robbery suspects died in gunfights with police,
while 1,857 were arrested, Inspector General of Police Mike Okiro said.
Okiro's announcement, which landed on the front pages of newspapers
countrywide, drew ire from human rights organizations, commentators, and
ordinary Nigerians. They fear the focus on casualties over arrests means
the brute force methods pioneered by the military and mastered by
criminals had been passed along through successive civilian regimes.
"It's stunning that the police killed half as many 'armed robbery
suspects' as they managed to arrest during Okiro's first 90 days," said
Peter Takirambudde, Africa director at Human Rights Watch. "And it's
scandalous that leading police officials seem to regard the routine
killing of Nigerian citizens - criminal suspects or not - as a point of
pride."
While firm nationwide crime rates and killings involving police weren't
available, Human Rights Watch cited fragmentary figures provided by
authorities showing more than 8,000 people had been shot and killed by
the police since January 2000.
Before the end of their rule in 1999, Nigeria's military juntas placed
troops in major cities, where they patrolled streets and kept a lid on
crime, along with political dissent and other freedoms. When they went
back to their barracks, that left only the police.
Few Nigerians pine for the military days, but they say civilian
governments haven't trained honest, civic-minded police to filled the
security vacuum left when troops abandoned the streets.
"Under the military regime, we had less crime. When we saw the army, we
were fearful," said Michael Padonu, a 57-year old school administrator
in a Lagos slum. "Now there's less security. People don't respect the
police. They're not trustworthy."
In Lagos, about two-thirds said crime was worsening in the city,
according to a 2006 survey by a Nigerian think tank focused on justice
issues, Cleen Foundation.
The police are known for their corruption, routinely stopping motorists
and demanding bribes. Many are poorly trained. Nigerians, who say police
are often in league with the criminals, call them "Kill and Go."
But Okiro, the new police commissioner, defended the rank and file,
pointing out that 62 police had died in the same three-month period
during which 785 armed robbery suspects died. He said the tough tactics
were needed.
"We are very mindful of our constitutional role of cleansing the society
of criminals. This statutory role will naturally attract the attention
of human rights groups who, for obvious reasons, will want to put the
performance and achievements of the Nigeria police under their
searchlight," he told reporters.
On Tuesday, Nigeria said it was studying an offer for police training
from Britain, which was the country's colonial master before
independence in 1960. Police spokesman Haz Iwendi said Yar'Adua broached
the subject recently in a meeting with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown.
"The Nigerian police is not well equipped to meet the challenges of
crime control," Iwendi said in announcing the measure. "But we are happy
that President Yar'Adua has put security as one of his key priorities."
Due to the near lack of law and order, criminals in Nigeria think big.
In recent years, Lagos, a city of at least 13 million people, has seen
massive daylight robberies, including a bank heist in the city's main
business area.
In another instance, dozens of gunmen took over an entire neighborhood,
systematically fleecing anyone found inside their cordon.
A series of robberies at top restaurants and bars included the August
robbery, witnessed by an Associated Press reporter, at the Tex-Mex spot
popular with oil workers and other foreigners.
With the clientele laying on the ground, the gunmen spent about 30
minutes robbing the customers and the till - although the robbers
chastely declined to rifle the pockets of the few women inside.
The man who suffered the head wound was treated at a local hospital and
later released. The police arrived only after the gang left, along with
most of the patrons.
After about a half-dozen brazen robberies in a matter of weeks, the
gang's activities ceased. It was widely believed that the gunmen died in
a shoot-out with the Nigerian police.