After the police in America killed George Floyd about 11 months ago, the following was the cause of his death as issued in a statement by the Minneapolis Police Department:
“Two officers arrived and located the suspect, a male believed to be in his 40s, in his car. He was ordered to step from his car. After he got out, he physically resisted officers. Officers were able to get the suspect into handcuffs and noted he appeared to be suffering medical distress. Officers called for an ambulance. He was transported to Hennepin County Medical Center by ambulance where he died a short time later. At no time were weapons of any type used by anyone involved in this incident.”
George Floyd had died and was gone. He was no longer there to contradict the account by the police. He couldn’t say they knelt on his neck until he died. But a citizen by name Darnella Frazier, who was only 17 years old at then, was in the crowd that watched the broad daylight execution of George by the police, pulled out her phone and recorded the killing.
She would later see the police statement and knew instantly that it was a blatant lie. She could not keep this injustice to herself. She stepped forward to do the right thing so that her conscience will find peace. Her video sparked change! Americans watched it in horror. The world watched it in disbelief. It was incontrovertible evidence that the police had killed George and not only that; they also urinated on his corpse by lying against him.
Next, the citizens rose up in huge protests that quickly escalated to all the 50 states of the US and further spread to many other cities globally. The result is the conviction of the killer police officer which the world watched happen live, of 2nd degree murder, 3rd degree murder and 2nd degree manslaughter. The charges carry a maximum sentence of 40 years. The police officer will be sentenced in 8 weeks. His three other colleagues who also participated in the killing will have their day in court later this year in August.
Messages of support for the conviction were swift in coming, beginning with America’s number 1 citizen President Joe Biden who, not only put a call to George’s family but also addressed a press conference together with VP, Kamala Harris.
The state of Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison in his own press conference after the decision by the jury said, “I would not call today’s verdict “justice”, however, because justice implies true restoration. But it is accountability, which is the first step towards justice.” No nation will do well without citizens being held accountable for their actions either in their personal or official capacities.
Nigeria will not do well until our public officials are held accountable for their actions. This is a job we must all demand to be done by those who swore on oath to defend our constitution and enforce the laws!
Matters arising
Police dishonesty – The police killed an innocent man and framed him. In Nigeria we have the police and other security agencies like the Army killing innocent citizens and framing them. There is therefore no difference between America and Nigeria because, the police on both sides who are paid to protect the citizens, do turn their guns and power against the people.
Citizen journalism – A young girl stepped up to do citizen journalism by exposing the falsity in the police statement. This is where Nigerians are lacking. We have citizens who are not living up to their duties and responsibilities.
Credit must however go to Nigerian citizens who have lived up to their duties by publishing videos of brutality by the security agents, but more needs to be done! For example, in September 2020 in Benue State, a repentant bandit, Gana accepted an amnesty deal and surrendered. He was seized by the Nigerian Army and murdered. The Army put up a statement that the man died in a gun battle and even had no shame in planting an AK47 rifle beside his body. The truth is that the Army seized the man from a convoy that was conveying him to Makurdi to meet the Governor of Benue State.
In this convoy were traditional rulers, Government officials, politicians, the man’s family and his boys. There were hundreds of people present when the Army abducted this man. Till date no citizen has had the courage to do what this 17-year-old did. No video has been released of the Army seizing Gana. No photos. Not even a statement from the traditional rulers nor the government officials in whose custody the Army abducted Gana, to contradict the fallacious statement issued by the Army.
Citizens protests – After the 17-year old did her civic duty of posting the video of the killing, the people protested to force the hands of the authorities to bring the officers involved to justice. Again this is where Nigerians are lagging behind. We have lost the fire of protest in us which we once had. I graduated in December 1989 instead of June because I lost 6 months of my final year at university as a result of our protest against the injustice of forcing the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) down our throats by the Babangida regime.
I do not mourn my loss because I sacrificed it for a good cause! Today Nigerians are counting personal losses and weighing them above the sacrifice for nation building. Workers’ unions only go on strikes if they want an increase in their salaries. The fire of protest for justice and for the common good has been extinguished in us. When it was briefly re-ignited during the EndSars protests, it was brutally suppressed by the Government, and we were intimidated and stopped.
Look at Myanmar, they have not stopped; See Hong Kong, they are still marching on; Russians are protesting. America is 245 years old as an independent nation yet it takes protests for citizens to get their Government to do their bidding. How then do we expect Nigeria of 60 years old to have a Government that just does our bidding without protests?
If we are hoping in Nigeria that the Government will just, on its own volition, begin to deliver good governance to us the citizens, we are joking! We have allowed ourselves to become punching bags! Any rubbish thrown at us by the political leadership, we just accept and say ‘God dey”, and move on. Have we not been pushed to the wall enough?
Security response; – The police in Minneapolis responded to a case of suspected forgery of a $20 bill. This is the Government providing a police service that responds to citizens’ distress calls. See the number of police cars that responded to this call.
In Nigeria the government has left us to our peril. Criminals come in and terrorise citizens for hours without a police response. Bandits stroll in and stroll out with school children without chase. Gun men casually drive in, kill and drive out without a chase from any security agents. We are absorbing all these while remaining docile without any reaction or protests.
Policing is most effective when it is local. Nigeria must stop talking and devolve policing to the states immediately. The police are not armed forces that need to be national, maintaining a national police is the remnants of military rule in Nigeria and must be stopped.
Awards – the literary and free expression organization PEN America have awarded Darnella Frazier, the 2020 PEN/Benenson Courage Award. In our case in Nigeria we reserve our awards for people of dubious character so long as they have deep pockets to pay. Many in Nigeria would have attacked the brave 17-year old instead of saluting her courage and backing her up because of their jaundiced political, ethnic and religious leanings. Snide comments such as, ‘what was she doing out there, who sent her message to be filming police, why was she not minding her business’, will be posted on social media to denigrate her.
Nigeria must be great
The state of Minnesota Attorney General, Keith Ellison said, that the cause of justice is in your hands. And when I say your hands, I mean the hands of the people of the United States.
This message equally applies to us as Nigerians. The cause of justice is in our hands. Nigeria belongs to us all and we must all have our hands on deck to build the Nigeria of our dreams – the Nigeria that as our national anthem says – One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity where peace and justice shall reign.
Nobody will do it for us! We must do it ourselves. We are stronger in unity. Even if we find reason to disagree, let us disagree in love instead of abuse and fights.
Agule, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Makurdi
