WHO KILLED PROFESSOR AHMAD MUSTAPHA FALAKI? This is very sad! Ridiculous, devastating and unacceptable. The extra-Judicial killing of the Professor is terrifying, act of inhumanity and abuse of human right. Professor Ahmad Falaki was with his driver and younger brother Aliyu Falaki returning from Bauchi on Saturday February 14, 2015. Professor Ahmad Mustapha Falaki, the director, Institute of the Agricultural Research (IAR) of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria who was murdered by the Nigerian Police after duely identifying himself was shot dead by the Police. Torture and extra-judicial killing Torture, according to the UN General Assembly, constitutes an aggravated and deliberate form of cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. To the European Commission on Human Rights, the word ‘torture’ is often used to describe inhuman treatment, which has a purpose such as the obtaining of information or confessions, or the infliction of punishment, and is generally an aggregate form of inhuman treatment. Section 34(1) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria provides that. “No person shall be subjected to torture or inhuman or degrading treatment”. ‘Extra-judicial’ means happening out of court; out of the jurisdiction of the proper court. Thus, extra-judicial killing means killing; not sanctioned by a court of competent jurisdiction in the process of criminal trial. The 1999 Constitution, in section 33(1) guarantees the right to life in the following terms: Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of a sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty. The only permissible limitations on the right to life are contained in section 33(2) of the Constitution, which provides that a person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of his life in contravention of this section, if he dies as a result of the use, to such extent and in such circumstances as are permitted by law, of such force as is reasonably necessary: (a) For the defence of any person from unlawful violence or property. (b) In order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained. ( c) For the purpose of suppressing a riot, insurrection or mutiny. It must be noted that the general omnibus derogation and limitation clauses in section 45 of the Constitution does not apply to the right to life. Thus, any killing not within the context of section 33(1) & (2) above will be unlawful and illegal. The pertinent question is whether the limitation clauses allow intentional killing in the circumstances enumerated in section 33(2) (a)-(c). It is respectfully submitted that the killing permitted under section 33(2) should have the objective of achieving one of the specified aims and the killing is merely a consequence of using an absolutely necessary amount of force in doing so. The European Commission on Human Rights, in construing a similar provision, ruled that if disproportionate force is used and death results, the Convention is violated, even if death was unintentional. While the use of force may sometimes be necessary, conduct resulting in death, whether intentional, negligent or accidental, should always have to be justified. The duty of the state is to secure life. Though the Constitution made no express provision on this matter, it can be implied from the spirit and some other provisions of the Constitution, that there is a duty on the State to act to secure life. Furthermore, though section 33 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees the right to life, appears to have merely imposed a negative obligation on the State not to take life, when that section is read together with section 14 (under the Fundamental Objectives, and Directive Principles of State Policy), it will be clear that the State has a duty to act to save life. Section 14 enacts that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government. Furthermore, the Constitution provides that Nigeria shall be a democratic nation, which implies the doctrine of the rule of law. The European Commission on Human Rights, while interpreting a provision under the European Convention similar to section 33(1) of the Nigerian Constitution, maintained that right to life imposes obligations on states to take appropriate steps to safeguard life. This will, for instance, entail taking appropriate steps to promote security and to prevent murder and other crimes threatening life. The United Nations Human Rights Committee has equally noted that the right to life includes a duty to prevent wars, acts of genocide and other acts of mass violence causing arbitrary loss of life. Having examined the concepts of democracy, torture and extra-judicial killing, and the circumstances in which some extra-judicial killing can be justified under the Constitution, and having stated the obligation on the part of the State to act to save life, let us now bring theory and practice into focus by juxtaposing the realities of Nigerian nascent democracy with the principles stated above. Torture and extra-judicial killing in Nigeria’s 4th Republic. There have been numerous cases of torture and extra-judicial killings since the advent of the Nigerian nascent democracy. This is notwithstanding the constitutional guarantee of right to life in provision against torture, inhuman or degrading to treatment. Members of the POLICE regularly beat up, kill or maim innocent persons. These trends has continued without necessary steps to correct the abnormalities by the legal authority. To this effect; Human rights groups across a broad spectrum are engaged in the vocal and public campaign for the promotion of human rights in Nigeria. Among the most active are: the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO); the Committee for the Defense of Human Rights (CDHR); the Constitutional Rights Project; the National Association of Democratic Lawyers; Human Rights Africa; the Legal Research and Resource Development Center; the National Association of University Women; the International Federation of Women Lawyers; and the Human Rights Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association. A number of prominent authors, including Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka, artists, educators, and jurists, in addition to professional and labor organizations, have spoken out frequently on human rights issues. All the afformentioned organizations are hereby called upon to set up strong delegations to properly investigate and bring those responsible for gruesome killing of Professor Ahmad Mustapha Falaki as required by Chapter 4, Section 33 of Nigerian Constitution of the Fundamental Human Right. They are nothing, but criminals in disguise and must be brought to justice,”