A Nigerian policeman, who shot and killed a bus driver over a bribe, was killed by an angry mob in what is described by some Nigerians as jungle justice in a country where, according to Human Rights Watch (HRW), police extortion and abuse are rampant.
Olufemi Ajayi was involved in a bribery dispute with a commercial bus driver Emiola Kolade at a check-point in the western Oyo State when the unexpected occured.
"The victim was flagged down by the police corporal, who demanded N100 ($1).
"The issue then degenerated into a hot argument and what we heard later was a gunshot and the commercial driver was found lying on the ground in pool of his blood," local media quoted an eyewitness as saying.
The wounded bus driver was taken to hospital for treatment but he later died, triggering a street protest by sympathisers, mostly women.
According to witnesses, the officer, who took to his heels after shooting the bus driver in the eye was pursued and caught by an angry mob.
The policeman was reportedly set ablaze and lynched by the irate mob. Ordinary citizens often take justice into their own hands in Nigeria, where there is disillusionment about law enforcement agents disregarding the rule of law.
Everyday, countless numbers of Nigerians are threatened and openly extorted by police who set up roadblocks, with the excuse to fight crime. Victims who challenge corrupt policemen are sometimes brutally assaulted.
A recent HRW report, compiled after gathering testimonies from about 150 victims and witnesses of police corruption, revealed that widespread corruption in the Nigerian police force was fueling abuses against ordinary citizens.
Suggesting that the situation was seriously undermining the rule of law in that country, the report - "Everyone's in on the Game", according to HRW, "documents the myriad forms of police corruption"
Analysts have argued that organised extortion, a clear lack of political will for police reforms as well as impunity have added to the rampant corruption that plagues the oil rich west African nation.
"The continued failure of the Nigerian authorities to tackle corruption, racketeering and embezzlement widespread within the police threatens the fundamental rights of all Nigerians" said Corinne Dufka, senior researcher for West Africa at HRW.
Nigeria has in recent weeks also suffered a myriad challenges including strike actions, after the government's withdrawal of fuel subsidies which saw a doubling of fuel products, as well as a spate of violent attacks by Boko Haram, an extremist Islamist group calling for a nationwide establishments of Sharia law.
