A pregnant woman who happened to be a renowned Lagos-based lawyer, Mrs Bolanle Raheem, was brutally murdered in front of her husband and her other family members on Christmas Day on her way back from church for Christmas Sunday service with her family by police officers at a police checkpoint in Ajiwe, Ajah, Lagos state. She was shot point black for no just cause, she was neither armed nor was she a criminal; a trigger-happy policeman happened to gun her down.
Social media went crazy for days in protest of her death, the mainstream media cried out in loud voice in protest of her death, lawyers nationwide went down to protest her death and did a sit-out on Monday and Tuesday at the police station, demanding justice for the death of their colleague.
It is unbelievable that at the same spot the late lady lawyer was shot and killed by police officers on Christmas Day, a 31 years old man was also shot this same December by police officers and this is making me think that it is now a norm. Police officers will shoot and kill an innocent person, social media will create a hashtag to protest the death of the deceased for days, and mainstream media platforms will break the news, invite pundits and analysts to analyze and share their views on the news for days and after that the news will be forgotten and everyone will move on to what next only for the case to be revisited when a similar incident occurs.
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How long will this continue to happen? How long will police officers keep shooting people at checkpoints, how long will Nigerians keep losing their lives, family members and loved ones and living in the panic of what police officers will do at checkpoints, the scary question I keep asking myself is; “who is next to be shot by police officers”? because it will definitely happen again, what we all do not know is who will be the next unlucky victim.
The police service commission, the Nigeria police force, the federal republic of Nigeria as well as the Lagos state government are all directly involved and guilty of the death of the late pregnant lawyer; what led to the death of Barr. Bolanle Raheem and many others who have died in the cold hands of police brutality is institutional failure.
It is because there have not been critical punishments meted out on rogue police officers that is why they keep shooting and killing people at the slightest provocation. The police service commission keeps protecting and shielding criminal and rogue police officers and that has been the problem.
We have all moved on but we should ask ourselves; who is next? Who will be the next unlucky victim of police brutality and incessant killings in Nigeria; will it it you or will it be me?