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| Version 1 | Version 2 |
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| Minister condemns Nigeria police | Minister condemns Nigeria police |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Nigeria's police minister has launched a scathing attack on the force, accusing officers of killings, robbery and other abuses. | Nigeria's police minister has launched a scathing attack on the force, accusing officers of killings, robbery and other abuses. |
| Ibrahim Lame said the lack of security was "condemnable and unacceptable". | Ibrahim Lame said the lack of security was "condemnable and unacceptable". |
| Human rights groups have frequently accused Nigeria's police of abuses and corruption but it is rare for the government to make similar charges. | Human rights groups have frequently accused Nigeria's police of abuses and corruption but it is rare for the government to make similar charges. |
| The national police chief blamed the security problems on poverty, corruption and religious tension. | |
| Mr Lame told a meeting of police commanders: "The current rate of crime across the nation, rising cases of extra-judicial killings, human rights violations, robberies, high-profile assassination and deliberate failure to comply with government directives are testimony to the sheer incapacity or wilful defiance of police high command" to government directives. | Mr Lame told a meeting of police commanders: "The current rate of crime across the nation, rising cases of extra-judicial killings, human rights violations, robberies, high-profile assassination and deliberate failure to comply with government directives are testimony to the sheer incapacity or wilful defiance of police high command" to government directives. |
| ANALYSIS Caroline Duffield, BBC News, Lagos | |
| Nigeria's culture of police brutality - and impunity - is powerful and the history of investigations holding the authorities to account is poor. | |
| The real problem is that police are trapped in a culture of corruption in which funds are stolen. Junior officers are expected to bribe senior officers - for promotion, for accommodation and for equipment. | |
| They are sent to battle armed robbers without bullet-proof vests or enough ammunition. Both sides know such encounters are a fight to the death. | |
| But the laws governing when officers are permitted to open fire are clear. And - it seems - they are often ignored. | |
| Police issue corpses and denials | |
| Inspector General of Police Ogbonna Onovo said the police were "operating under unbearable conditions", reports the Vanguard newspaper, adding that criminals were often better armed than the police. | Inspector General of Police Ogbonna Onovo said the police were "operating under unbearable conditions", reports the Vanguard newspaper, adding that criminals were often better armed than the police. |
| Last year, a BBC investigation found that staff in the mortuary in the south-eastern city of Enugu were unable to cope with the large number of bodies the police were delivering - many of whom had been accused of being armed robbers. | Last year, a BBC investigation found that staff in the mortuary in the south-eastern city of Enugu were unable to cope with the large number of bodies the police were delivering - many of whom had been accused of being armed robbers. |
| Amnesty International's Erwin van der Borght said: "The Nigerian police are responsible for hundreds of unlawful killings every year." | Amnesty International's Erwin van der Borght said: "The Nigerian police are responsible for hundreds of unlawful killings every year." |
| Mr Onovo also denied reports that armed robbers had ordered a bus driver to run over passengers on the Lagos-Benin highway last week - shocking pictures of this incident prompted the Senate to open an inquiry earlier this week. | Mr Onovo also denied reports that armed robbers had ordered a bus driver to run over passengers on the Lagos-Benin highway last week - shocking pictures of this incident prompted the Senate to open an inquiry earlier this week. |
| He said a truck had killed the passengers who were on the road after their bus had been held up by the bandits. | He said a truck had killed the passengers who were on the road after their bus had been held up by the bandits. |
| The police face criticism for not even attending the incident. | |
| But the BBC's Caroline Duffield in Lagos says Nigerians are accustomed to seeing bodies pile up. | |
| A video aired on al-Jazeera television this year apparently showed police and soldiers shooting unarmed civilians in the head, after the siege of a religious sect. | |
| Seventeen officers are under arrest. | |
| Our correspondent says Nigeria's culture of police brutality - and impunity - is powerful and the history of investigations holding the authorities to account is poor |