The House of Representatives has vowed to defend Nigerians against extrajudicial killings, harassment and human rights abuses by men of the Nigeria Police Force.

The Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, made this known in Abuja on Tuesday at a public hearing organised by the House Committee on Police Affairs, themed ‘Repositioning the Nigeria Police for an Enhanced Service Delivery.’

Gbajabiamila cited the case of the alleged killing of a Remo Stars football club player, Tiamiyu Kazeem, by a Special Anti-Robbery Squad officer, which has led to chaos in Sagamu area of Ogun State.

He decried that the populace was now living in fear of threats posed to them by the police.

In his opening remarks, Gbajabiamila said:

“More than any other institution of the State, it is the Police Force that relate to the citizens daily. In many communities across Nigeria, the Police Force are the only representative of the Nigerian state, and the connection between our citizens and the state is often defined by their interactions with the Nigeria Police.

“It is unfortunate and entirely unacceptable that the relationship between the police and many of these communities is now defined by fear, mutual antagonism and an absolute loss of faith in the ability of the police to protect and to serve.

“In the last few days, we have all witnessed as the city of Sagamu in Ogun State has been unsettled by an orgy of violence resulting from the extrajudicial killing of a young footballer by officers of the Nigeria Police. Citizens who gathered to protest this killing were soon themselves at the receiving end of police bullets.

“This is not an isolated incident. We are daily inundated with news reports of interactions between citizens and the police resulting in the injury and death of those citizens. Reports of police harassment of young people have become so rampant that they barely even break through the news cycle except when public anger becomes so great that it results in a breakdown of law and order.

“We can no longer stand for this, and we will not. This House of Representatives has a responsibility to speak for our citizens and we will continue to do so even when it is inconvenient.”

The Speaker pointed out that the first responsibility of the state to its citizens is to protect life and property. According to him, everything else flows from this fundamental obligation.

He said: “When the agencies we rely on to serve this purpose become predatory, they lose the faith of the public and become incapable of delivering on this responsibility. When the public are as afraid of the police as they are of the criminals, and perhaps even more so, the very fundamentals of our nationhood are at stake. We are confronted with an urgent need, deserving of our utmost attention and dedication. We must fix the Nigerian Police, restore public confidence and make the institution once more deserving of the true faith and support of the Nigerian people.”

Gbajabiamila noted that the hearing was convened to examine the ways by which House could act to improve the capacity of the police to deliver on their obligations to our people.

“We cannot do that job effectively if we do not first allow for an honest assessment of our current reality. We will not achieve much of substance if we shy away from confronting the failures of recruitment and training, remuneration and welfare, responsibility and accountability that have left us with a national Police Force that is too often unfit for purpose,” he stated.