Brutal reality of Nigeria killing
The first reaction of Nigerian Information Minister Dora Akunyili to Mr Yusuf’s death was to say, on the BBC’s Network
Africa programme: “What is important is that he has been taken out of the way, to stop him using people to cause mayhem.”
However, she did go on to say that the government did not condone what she called “extrajudicial killings”.
Officers in Borno State would have been keen to send a message that people who attack them will be “dealt with” – a phrase
commonly used by everyone from Nigerian security officials, politicians, to the media and the Nigerian on the street.
Decades of corruption and continued failure to train officers properly has led to a situation where extrajudicial killing is
an accepted form of dealing with people the police believe to be criminals.
Nigerians see their society as being mired in violence, and do not trust the court system to punish or reform offenders.
The international rights organisation Human Rights Watch says extrajudicial killings are shockingly common.
Former jail inmates have told the BBC that armed robbery suspects are regularly executed before they are charged.
Few Nigerians will be surprised that their police force killed renegade Islamic sect leader Mohammed Yusuf after four days
of violence in the northern city of Maiduguri.
After all, their motto used to be “Fire for Fire”.
Many ordinary Nigerians will even have the same reaction to the news, viewing it as a good turn of events.
Police say the 39-year-old preacher was killed in a shootout on Thursday night.
It happened after Mr Yusuf was paraded by the police in front of journalists, and after he was apparently filmed begging for
his life.
He was said to have been shot while trying to escape. But many Nigerians will assume he was simply executed.
