On January 14, 2021, three officers of the State Security Services (SSS) attacked Rauf Fawale, a police corporal, in Osogbo.

Witnesses said the late Mr. Fawale, who was serving at Dada Estate Police Division in Osogbo, had a disagreement with the SSS officers at a beer parlour, but after pacemakers had settled the quarrel, the SSS officers waylaid Mr. Fawale at a junction on his way home and beat him to coma.

Nine days after the attack, the officer died of severe injuries at the hospital. Peoples Gazette learnt Mr. Fawale was on oxygen from the beginning of admission until the day he passed on.

A medical report revealed that he died due to serious head injury sustained during the attack.

Balikis Fawale, the deceased’s widow who spoke in Yoruba, told the Gazette recently that all efforts made by the family for the police to arrest the killers of her husband have been in vain.

The 30-year-old nursing mother appealed to well-meaning Nigerians to help get justice for her and the three children the late corporal left behind.

Rights activist, Lamina Kamiludeen World Institute for Peace, has been following the matter since the incident. He told the Gazette that information reaching his organisation has it that the SSS claimed to have arrested the three officers, but waiting for a signal from the headquarters before releasing the culprits to the police for criminal prosecution.

“It is painful that SSS as a security outfit in this country can delay the release of their men who committed the atrocities,” Mr. Kamiludeen said. “That means Nigerians are not safe in the hands of SSS.”

Reached for comments, SSS spokesman Peter Afunaya sent a press release dated January 27, 2021, which said the police and the SSS are jointly investigating the matter, and that the SSS will not condone any act of indiscipline or injustice.

Three weeks after the attack on Mr. Fawale, the SSS says it is still investigating the matter, fueling suspicion amongst rights activists that the SSS was trying to buy time for its officers and obstruct justice in a criminal case.

Osun police spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, told the Gazette by telephone: “The state police commissioner had written more than three letters to the SSS and I have also joined CP to visit their office three times in Osun State but they are saying they are investigating the matter.”

The tussle underscored the disfunction that has beset Nigeria’s law enforcement for decades. The Nigerian law allows the police to conduct investigations into murder cases and prosecute as may be necessary, but other agencies like the SSS and the Nigerian Army have regularly undercut the Constitutional power of the police.

Several police officers have been killed by either the military or the SSS, but hardly has anyone been brought to justice because the agencies often see themselves as above the police.

Security analyst Victor Eke said it was time for a judicial review of the matter.

“Security agencies cannot continue to commit atrocities while shielding their personnel because they feel a certain level of supremacy over the police,” Mr. Eke said. “This should not be happening in a democratic system.”