Tell any Nigerian ‘the Nigeria Police is your friend’
and you will be bombarded with sighs, hisses, anger, laughter and in
some cases threats as they reminisce and reflect upon their past
experiences with their ‘friends’. Almost everyone has one bad experience
or the other to recount.
A few years ago a close
friend of mine Chris went to buy tiles at Orile, and hired a bus to
help transport it home. On their way back, the driver decided to carry
some passengers, and my friend did not object.
To
cut a long story short, one of the passengers who had fallen asleep
woke up and on seeing the bus almost empty, dived out of the moving bus.
Luckily he was not run over by oncoming vehicles but other drivers
thought Chris and his driver were “one chance” armed robbers, so they
were taken to the station.
The man who took a
dive was brought in and via an interpreter (he’s Hausa) said he was not
robbed but thought he was in danger, so he flew out of the bus. Cased
closed right, but it's never that simple with our friends the Nigeria Police Force.
The
officers in charge demanded that Chris pay N50,000 bail before he’s
released and he refused. So he was charged to court and spent over 6
months in Ikoyi Prisons awaiting trial.
So I was not surprised when on Monday, June 13, 2016, I came across the story of Benue musician INAS (real name John Inas)
who was arrested on his way home from a video shoot. He was bailed with
N20,000.00 and instructed to come the next day to collect his phone
because the officer with it was not around.
Only
for him to be be rearrested on false charges of murder and armed robbery
simply because he persisted on collecting his phone. What I don't get
is why was his phone taken out of the station in the first place? Items
collected from those arrested are they not supposed to be registered,
filed and kept in the evidence locker?
Then a few
days later another story was circulated about a man who was robbed and
went to the station to report the robbery but was told to pay N5,000.00
mobilisation fee. He then decided to write a statement instead but was
requested to pay for the paper.
Sadly these are
not isolated incidences but everyday occurrences which will continue to
happen. The problem with the Nigeria Police Force is that they have
refused to upgrade from the pre-colonial era of policing, when the
British hired illiterates who could not challenge their authority. The
officers are well educated while a lot of the recruits can hardly spell
their names.
It's a dumping ground for frustrated
individuals whose lack of credentials have blessed them a future so
bleak, they decided to enroll for a job which pays cowries compared to
the risk and stress involved with it. These ‘empowered frustrated’
people then take out their frustrations on innocent citizens but I do
not blame them, I blame the incompetent bosses at the top who have
refused to upgrade the recruitment requirements from the pre-colonial
days, besides you only get what you pay. If the startup salary was
reasonable, reasonable people will apply.
These
are the men we entrust our lives with. We expect them to risk their
lives for a pittance and act surprised when they take off of their
uniforms quickly at the sound of anything that resembles a gunshot. Just
tell one of them there are armed robbers operating down the street and
watch his pot belly jiggle as he races in the opposite direction. The
only time they’re useful is when they’re busy doing the job of Road
Safety officials or setting up illegal road blocks.
More
than one Inspector General of police has banned checkpoints, yet they
keep springing up like weeds and will continue to do so. How do you
expect these recruits to meet their needs with a salary of N9,019.42
monthly, if he’s not augmenting it by harassing innocent civilians on
the street, it's just not feasible. It's also unreasonable for you to
expect these same men to befriend their ‘food source’, it's like saying a
street cat should stop eating rats, they’ll starve to death.
The
police is not my friend, at least not the ones I interact with. Friends
are supposed to look out for each other. Friends do not stab each other
in the back. What sort of friend oppresses his said friend simply
because he wears a dirty black uniform that’s not been in water for
days?
What sort of friend disappears when you
need him the most? The police is my friend, never, I reject and rebuke
it (as my dear mom would say).
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