Re: Sa'datu Rimi's Murder: Invetigative Perspective

[sammy]

I hope law enforcement are not sitting down and offering similar prayers as people on this forum have done. One thing Nigerians are known for is in accepting every tragedy as the "WILL OF ALLAH". Even the late woman's husband, Alhaji Rimi made the same irresponsible claim, that the brutal slaying of his wife was "Allah's Will". I find such a conviction/belief quite atrocious.

Police investigation of course should begin within the Rimi household, and they can then eliminate the occupants of the house if they find no connection. In most other countries, Rimi would be amongst the possible suspects of this homicide investigation. In fact, he would be the prime suspect. They would question his friends, neighbors, relatives, etc regarding his relationship with his slain wife. This will be to determine if the marraige was a peaceful one, or if there were conflicts, abuses, problems, and thing that may provide possible motives and opportunity for murder. Another issue would be reconstructing the timeline when this homicide occured and factors sorrounding it.  

The killer or killers know quite well that in a hot political climate as Nigeria's, it is quite easy to pass off this murder as politically motivated and blamed on the unknown or known opponents of Rimi.  This may or may not necessarily be the case.  It comes down largely to motive. Who had motive? One thing is clear from the preliminary assessment of this crime scene as reported by the local press, and they are as follows;

1.  Rimi was out of town at the time of this homicide.  That could be an unfortunate coincidence or by design. The story behind his absence is that he had to attend some event in nearby Kaduna or so.  If the target of this slaying was political and he was the intended target, the killers are likely to have known that he would be out of town, and so it would have been pointless to enter his residence.  The police needs to supoena Rimi's phone records days before the homidice, on the day he was informed of his wife's murder, and the days after.  They also need to subpoena his bank records for any kind of unusual transactions, like sudden withdrawal of large sums of money. This is important to eliminate him as a suspect.

2.  According to the story told by Rimi's niece, she and the deseased were up till about 2a.m watching a movie. At about 2 am, the niece reported that the deseased supposedly recieved a phone call from one of Rimi's son's (probably her son) in the US, and that she spoke briefly with the party on the other line, thereafter they both retired for the night. This would likely have been about 2:30 -2:40 a.m in the morning.  Question, did they usually stay up that late? Also, does Rimi's son in the US often call the home that late to speak to someone?  It is very unlikely that a Nigerian living in the US would call his/her family in Nigeria at 2a.m Nigerian time, unless there was an absolute necessity in an emergency situation. In this case, there was no emergency, so what exactly was the call regarding at such an odd hour of the morning?

3. If Rimi's late wife and niece did infact retire to bed at 2:30 a.m, and the same niece found the victim at about 7a.m that same morning, the homicide had to have happend somewhere between 3-6 am.  If the coroner's office did an autopsy or an analysis at the crime scene, they could determine the time of death more accurately, so I am just guessing as best as I can.  Now, given the violent nature of this crime, (and again, I do not have access or knowledge of the crime scene) and the time line when it may have occured, it is difficult to imagine that nobody heard anything.

4. The coroner's report should indicate if this woman was killed right in her sleep and she had no chance or indicate if she actually fought back against her assailant.  If that is the case, the police needs to fine comb the entire crime scene for any genetic information the assailant may have left behind. If the victim fought back or struggled one way or the other, she most likely scratched her assailant and thereby took DNA samples of the killer.   Forensic technicians should have examined the victim?s body thoroughly under ultra-light microscope, and pick every trace evidence off her body because the killer most likely left behind a genetic identity. It could be his sweat, hair sample, fibre or something that can be used to develop a genetic profile. A blood analysis from the crime scene would also determine if blood found on the scene belonged only to the victim or if there is blood belonging to another party as well. If there is, you most likely have your killer's genetic profile right there.

My purpose here is not to accuse Rimi, or any member of his household of
involvement in murder, but to put everything in perspective and show how a functional law enforcement establishment should operate with effectiveness as the job requires. Knowing how incompetent every sector of government in Nigeria is, it is very likely that this homicide would never be solved.  Aside from all other ?political? factors that may prevent the through investigation of this case, the fact remains that law enforcement is clearly ill equipped, ill trained, and totally oblivious of what its role is. At this point in time, the kano state police should have had a statewide database of convicted persons, felons, petty offenders, etc. The database should include several mog shots of these persons with detailed information about their offences, dates of occurance, date of their   conviction, nature of the crime, sentence imposed, current address/location if currently released on parole, immediate family member details, etc. The database should have extemely detailed information and should also contain finger- print and DNA profiles of offenders.  

Quite frankly, every resident of the state should have a standard identification record, not just for law enforcement purpose, but for civil purpose as well. This makes police work easier as criminals can be identified and tracked a lot easier. Aside from this, such identification helps law enforcement keep violent offenders and dangerous felons off the street so our communities can be safer. Secondly, having identification enables the state govt to have an idea of who the residents in the state are for several reasons. This information would show if someone is employed in the state, who the employer is, if they are currently paying taxes, if they have benefits such as health, how much they pay each month for those benefits and if the providers are actually meeting their obligations to the individual. By failing to have such a modern system in place, we may as well be living in the stoneage era. This is why the government is so incapable of handling any simple challenge they are faced with. The current menace and increase in armed robbery and violent crimes is one of such challenges that government in the entire country has clearly failed to curb. Why is this so? They?ve simply not put the mechanism in place to deal with these issues.

If any state in Nigeria is serious about modernizing its law enforcement community, please contact me. The situation is clearly out of control and the government is NOT knowledgeable in handling this problem.

[kitkat]

Why are you assuming that the police have not or are not carrying out their investigation in precisely the way and manner in which you describe? Youd be suprised at the capability of the Nigeria police if they are put under the spotlight as is the case here.

The sad thing is that there is clear evidence of political interference from the very top in previous killings and Rimis outburst yesterday was his way of sounding an alarm about a possible u turn in the cause of this investigation.

Im aware that his household was questioned and his own statement taken, and in fact speculation about his sons arrest was caused by a second round of questioning which focused on selected members of his household.

I also know that a forensic team combed the crime scene for fingerprints and other evidence althogh no one knows for sure where this has led to.

One only hopes that the investigation wont be influenced if the evidence begins to take another dimension. I recall Harry marshalls murder when the then IG Tafa arrested 6 vagabonds on the outskirts of abuja and promptly declared them the killers. The ANPP chairman was asked to handover a cheque for N20 million which was written out in Marshalls name, signed by him but was ye to be signed by the second signatory when the man was killed. The IG demanded for this as evidence despite the ANPP officials proresting the fact that it had not even left the chairmans office.

 Lo and behold Tafa appeared on network news brandishing the partially signed cheque and declaring that this was found on the six arrested suspects who had killed marshall and stolen the cheque.  The ANPP chairman had to quickly call a press conference to debunk this and tell the nation the truth.  This is one of the reasons why this country's security situation is so scary.

Its not whether the police will or can do their job, its whether they will be allowed to, and this is why you have cases like the apo six coming to the fore. If the big guys can order an investigation doctored to suit political ends who is to stop the rank and file from also being selective about which cases to pursue and which to mess up??

God help us all.

[sammy]

Kitkat, I am not just assuming that the Nigerian Police is not carrying out an investigation like I have outlined.  It is not an assumption, I strongly believe they are not capable of it for two reasons.
1. The Nigerian police is a disaster operationally and otherwise.  Its track record for the past 30 years is horrifyingly dismal.  Not just is the Nigerian police useless, it is heavily corrupt from the top down.  It is pointless to recount some of the horror stories of high crimes that the Nigerian police perpetrates in Nigerian communities.  They not only refuse to respond to the call of duty, they easily aid and collaborate with dangerous criminals. The truth of the matter is, you cannot be a law enforcement outfit, a criminal establishment, and an effective police force all in one. That is impossible.  The Nigerian police force is a rotten Organization, no proof is required to confirm this fact.

2.  As a rotten organization,  you cannot faithfully and effectively discharge your duty to the public, we are not talking community games here. We are talking about upholding the law, and in order to effectively uphold the law, there has to be consistent and sustained intergrity across the board from leadership to officers on the field.  If such intergrity is lacking, law enforcement losses it objective and mediocrity sets in.  So when you have a mediocre police department whose priority is corruption and extorting money from the public at all cost, how can such a department effectively respond to 911 calls, and cautiously process crime scenes for trace evidence?  

Can you name one functional police crime lab in Kano?  A crime lab for instance would have a Biochemistry section which is a section of the laboratory that performs DNA analysis on biological evidence to determine the identity of the donor of the evidence in question. In most US state police departments for instance,  all of the DNA analysis performed in the section are PCR- based (cloning) and performed in accordance with the guidelines recommended by the National DNA Advisory Board, the Scientific Working Group on DNA Analysis Methods, and the American Society of Crime Laboratory Directors- Laboratory Accreditation Board.  
There is no such group in Nigeria.

The Biochemistry section uses the following nationally validated testing kits manufactured by Promega Corporation and ReliaGene Technologies, Inc. to perform its PCR-based DNA analysis:

DNA Analysis Gel Image

Powerplex 16 ? Promega Corporation
Y-Plex 6 ? ReliaGene Technologies Inc.
(Again, no such process in Nigeria)

I have spoken to high ranking officers in the Nigerian Police force about some of these law enforcement strategies used in the US, and they clearly had no idea what I was talking about.  Just so you know,  to be employed by a state PD as a DNA technician, a Masters of Science degree is required in a related field.  Other sections of a crime laboratory include the following;

Drug section: The purpose of the Drug sections is to analyze and identify any suspected controlled substances that are submitted to the Laboratory from city, county, state, and federal police agencies.

Firearms: The Firearms and Toolmarks is the section of the Laboratory that analyzes firearms, fired cartridge cases, and fired bullets. By test firing the weapon and recovering the known fired bullets and cartridge cases, a comparison can be made with the evidence from a crime scene


Latent Prints: On latent print  section, I could write chapters on this section.  This is huge because finger analysis can tie a suspect to a crime scene despite lack of eye witness testimony.  Finger Print evidence are put through a variety of chemical, physical, and electronic processes designed to reveal the presence of latent impressions. This section of law enforcement is huge.  They utilize huge mainframe computers for different types of analysis, testing, comparison, etc.  The current educational requirement for a latent finger print examiner in a Forensic laboratory varies depending on the State police department. However,  basic requirement is as follows:  Bachelor's Degree from a four year accredited University with a major in Chemistry, Biology, Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Forensic Science or other Natural Science.


For now, I will  not discuss the other 3 below areas of a Crime lab unit.

Questioned Documents
Toxicology
Trace Evidence

Now, based on my above analysis, do you still think kano state police is a capable police force?  Not even close.  Kitkat, my views are based on realities of what I know.

You did say that you are aware that a forensic team combed the crime scene for evidence.  It is hard to imagine how because I know they lack the sophisticated tool used in collected evidence samples and processing them. They also lack the trained and qualified personnel to test and analyze crime scene evidence.  They do not have the machines that analyzes data accurately and presents it in useable form. I know this because I did visit Kam Salen house and some other Police Command in Lagos late last year. My thoughts thereafter was " God help these people".
Aside from this though, Kano state law, or perhaps Islamic law dictates that a deceased must be buried by sun down or the next day. Now, traditions like this can seriously impede police work. When a person expires, the normal thing to do in any modern society is to perform an autopsy in order to determine cause of death.  This becomes increasing necessary when the death is sudden,  suspicious, or a homicide. In the case of a homicide, the police will have to transport the body to a crime lab, and examine the corpse for post mortem changes. Body temperature remains relatively static for the first 1-2 hours after death. Thereafter, body temperature drops approximately 1.5 degrees per hour. In any case, body temperature will usually approximate that of the environment within 20-30 hours. The crime lab will have to make this determination from their analysis of the body.

A thorough process by a medical examiner's office will require more than one day in most cases to comb a victim's body for any clues that may point law enforcement in the right area. So burying someone within 24 hours after death does not help police investigation at all. You want to preserve evidence and not destroy them


Here is the interesting thing however, I understand that Alhaji Rimi went public a few days ago and declared that the Killer or Killers of his wife have been apprehended by the Police and were being questioned.  That is strange, and very questionable to say the least. If this were indeed true, the police should have held that press briefing.  Furthermore,  if the police did hold a briefing, they could not have said conclusively that they have the killers within a week or two.  Without any eyewitness to the crime, there is no way to conclude that a suspect or suspects in custody are the killers.  This is exactly what I was talking about

[sdanyaro]

So help us God.

[HUSNAA]

One thing Nigerians are known for is in accepting every tragedy as the "WILL OF ALLAH". Even the late woman's husband, Alhaji Rimi made the same irresponsible claim, that the brutal slaying of his wife was "Allah's Will". I find such a conviction/belief quite atrocious.

.

As Muslims, (which I believe you are not), believing that this is the Will of Allah is not an irresponsible claim. It is a fact. Sa'a Rimi (Allah Ya jikan ta) was meant to die in the hands of these cold blooded murderers. It was in her Kadar (destiny). For each and every one of us there is a time and place and method or way of dying. When the time comes, we cannot put it off by as much as a 100th of a second, nor can we hasten it, nor can we avoid the means of it. So it is not an irresponsible claim.
Having said that, the mere fact of attesting to it doesnt mean that one must not take action to see that the culprits are brought to book and justice done. In the Holy Quran in Suratul Baqara ayas 178 to 179, the Command of Allah concerning such matters as murder is given:

'O ye who believe! Retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter of the murdered; the freeman for the freeman, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. And for him who is forgiven somewhat by his (injured) brother, prosecution according to usage and payment unto him in kindness. This is an alleviation and a mercy from your Lord. He who transgresseth after this will have a painful doom.  
And there is life for you in retaliation, O men of understanding, that ye may ward off (evil). '
So in effect ppl must be brought to justice. However many ppl opt to forgive or leave the matter to the Creator to reckon with the murderers in the hereafter in the full knowledge that the punishment of the hereafter is worse than any death sentence. However, they do tend to forget that they are entitled to blood money in any case, in so far as retaliatory justice has not been served upon the murderers in this world.
The second verse about there being life  in retaliation is actually an endorsement for investigating the matter (by police or whom ever) and giving full justice where it is merited so that such crimes are stamped out of the society for the benefit of all.  This is a commentary on the second verse that I heard while listening to some Islamic lectures.

[HUSNAA]

Incidentally, there is nothin strange about  Rimi declaring the  apprehension of some of Sa'a's murderers considering that one of them became conscience stricken enough to admit to the murder publicly to Rimi himself at the Jana'iza/zaman makoki.
And please before we go aknocking down our police force we must remember that there is not a more maligned group of public servants to be found anywhere in Nigeria. I am very sympathetic to the police force. Yes they are corrupt but  they are not inept, and even if they are, it is due to the circumstances that they found themselves in, of being underpaid, having little in terms of social welfare and adequate training. You need to go and see where  and how police and their families  live to know that under such circumstances, you cannot breed anything but chaos and discontent and ultimately corruption.
Ultimately however, an overhaul of the police force is required, whereby all must have to be educated to at least a diploma level, before they are absorbed in to the force and then from then on they must be trained both physically and academically within the force to attain an equivalent of a degree at least. Then they need to be decently remunerated and accomodated and work benefits like schooling and health facililties for their families ensured.  If one can satisfy the police in their sphere of work, then a police man will not be trigger happy, will enforce the law and ultimately will not take roadside bribes.
Like I said, our police are not inept.  I think I heard on BBC Hausa sometime back that they are even sent abroad into these conflict ridden African nations for some law enforcement work and guess what? They do a very good job of it!

[mallamt]

Incidentally, there is nothin strange about Rimi declaring the apprehension of some of Sa'a's murderers considering that one of them became conscience stricken enough to admit to the murder publicly to Rimi himself at the Jana'iza/zaman makoki.

oohps you may want to retract that, the man was found to be insane (he is a mad man).

[dan kauye]

Incidentally, there is nothin strange about Rimi declaring the apprehension of some of Sa'a's murderers considering that one of them became conscience stricken enough to admit to the murder publicly to Rimi himself at the Jana'iza/zaman makoki.

oohps you may want to retract that, the man was found to be insane (he is a mad man).

was he really insane? :?

[mallamt]

was he really insane?

good question dan kauye, but then who determines that? what types of insanity exist? do we have any facts free of bias or prejudice?  I suppose and trust that the police have put this man through tests (by professionals) to determine his state of mental health before declaring that he is insane

[dan kauye]

was he really insane?

good question dan kauye, but then who determines that? what types of insanity exist? do we have any facts free of bias or prejudice?  I suppose and trust that the police have put this man through tests (by professionals) to determine his state of mental health before declaring that he is insane

I guess i agree with you on that,although the nigerian police  may have big flaws,i doubt if they wud be dumb enough not to conduct a thorough reasearch on the self-proclaimed zazzau before declaring his insanity.

Plus,what sane human wud like to get involved in a vulnerable situation lke this..

Still i'm not absolutely ruling out the posibility of a made-up scheme-it's Nigeria ..everything is possible...

Any latest development on the case yet?

[lionger]

Nigeria sef.  :? What kind of heartlessness is this?

[ummita]

Mhmmm, na so 9ja one begin style.....if dey no like you, dey go eliminate ur beloved one........

Dee-kay, even if he is insane........Insanity might not stand as a defence for murder!

For the deceased, we will keep her in prayers.