Al narco wars
He said the agency does not regard drug users as criminals, “they are young men and women who have over enjoyed. We don’t beat, torture or maltreat them here in Kano,” he said, stressing that the agency had a rehabilitation centre where some drug-dependent people were being rehabilitated.
“However, lack of facilities has hampered our detoxification process. The only thing we do for now is counsel them,” he added.
Buhari Abba’s life was snuffed out by a police bullet, when a wrap of hemp was found on him at a check point. A police corporal posted to Jiwa Junction, Gwagwa, Abuja, on Sunday, February 18, 2018 shot and killed Abba, during a stop and search operation at the junction.
At the time of the incident, the policeman was arrested by the Kubwa Area Command for allegedly shooting Abba to death.
Daily Trust learnt that the policeman was conducting a stop and search on motorists along with three other colleagues around 8:30 P.M when he stopped a tricycle popularly known as “Keke Napep” going to Karmo and demanded its rider to park.
A family member explained that the passengers on board the tricycle were ordered to present themselves for a search, and Abba, who was sitting by the side of the driver, made an attempt to flee but was grabbed by the suspect (policeman) and a wrap of Indian hemp was found in his pocket.
While the victim was ordered by the policeman to follow him to the Gwagwa police division for further investigation, the victim freed himself from the grip of the policeman and started to run, but again, the policeman chased him and when he couldn’t catch him, shot him.
The late Abba hailed from Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State, and was doing business at the tomato market, Deidei, following his graduation from a Polytechnic in his state.
In Lagos, some of the drug users our reporter spoke with claimed the police had attempted raping them during raids at smoking joints.
Bolatife Adewale is a 23 years old and she lives in Kaka Zone of Agege, a rambling slum area of Lagos. She has been doing drugs for just three years but she has had a good dose of harassment from the police.
“On my birthday, which was on February 3, 2018, I was outside the ‘joint’ when the police came in commando style and started picking up people.
“Others ran away but those of us who could not run were picked up and hauled into their van. Then one of the officers said he must have sex with me before I would be released. When I refused, I was jailed for three days at Isokoko police station,” she said.
On another occasion, she was arrested at Akewale area of Agege and the same officer allegedly demanded to have sex with her and when she refused, the policeman allegedly beat her up with a cable, tear gassed her and extorted N3,500 from her.
She insisted that she was not a criminal and didn’t deserve that kind of treatment from the police. She said she was a school dropout but was into fashion designing.
Diana Joseph is an outreach coordinator for Heartland Alliance International, Nigeria. She is also a counselor tester, working in communities with high population of People Who Use Drugs (PWUD) but she has not been spared by the police either.
In the second week of July 2018, while she was at a PWUD community to test women for HIV, she was caught up in a police raid.
“When I went out to conduct intervention for women in a PWUD community, the police raided the place and arrested everybody. They threw away my condoms after ransacking my bag. Then they took us to Katangwa market police station in Alimosho Local Government and told the DPO that I was the one distributing needles and syringes for those injecting drugs,” she said.
She further alleged that the policemen who arrested her fondled her breasts and touched her inappropriately all over her body while handcuffing her.
“While they searched me they found a wrap of skunk (SK) on me. I just bought the SK as an entry ticket into the community so that I can test them for HIV,” she added, saying her bosses at Heartland came and posted her bail for N15,000.
Miss Joseph said that kind of situation happens rampantly in her line of work. “Sometimes, I bribe them with a pack of condoms and go my way,” she added.
The Lagos state police command spokesman, Chike Oti, while responding to the allegations said the command has a citizens’ complaints help centre, which has dedicated lines distributed all over Lagos.
Oti who spoke on phone with our reporter added that the Lagos State commissioner of police, Imohimi Edgal, has a high disciplinary scorecard, having dismissed 17 police officers over disciplinary issues in less than one year.
“I encourage anybody who has case against policemen to come forward and state their case,” he said.
Asked the difference between drug users and dealers, he said there was a thin line dividing a user and a dealer. “The nexus is that you are found with an illegal substance,” he added, explaining why users are also arrested by the police.
The spokesman further stated that there was a thin line dividing drugs and crime.
“Ninety percent of the cultists (secret society members) we arrest are high on drugs. We recover drugs from them when we carry out raids during their initiation ceremonies. So, we are doing our best to curb crime and the police in Lagos will not leave them alone. If we see them taking drugs, we must arrest them because they are heartless people. Whenever they take drugs, they just hack people down on the streets,” he said.
He insisted that policing was designed around protection of human rights, such that whatever they did was within the ambit of the law.
The Global Commission on Drug Policy’s 2017 Report, focuses on the world drug perception problem and how to counter prejudices about people who use drugs. The report enunciates that negative perception of people who use drugs has fuelled the violation of human rights of individuals, while it has also deterred national governments of some countries from developing comprehensive drug policies that aim more at harm reduction than prohibitionist frameworks.