I read with disgust another extra judicial killing of a young man referred to as Edwin in Onitsha and wondered when this police madness will stop. The Nigerian police has been known for their senseless and shameless acts since time immemorial. I can only imagine the amount of untold hardship the police has wrecked on Nigerian families, the number of children rendered fatherless or wives made widows. The killing of Edwin is but another one of the many countless cases the will simply vanish into thin air. A few months ago in Bayelsa, a young boy was killed by a police officer in the presence of his mother for speaking against police corruption.
It is unfortunate that despite the seemingly insurmountable problems that confront the Nigerian police, the best they can do is to kill innocent, hardworking Nigerians. The police have proven their helplessness against the forces of Boko Haram, MEND, kidnappers and even armed robbers yet the citizenry of this country is now their new found target.
In recent times, the police (whether through CID or EFCC) has not been able to convict a corrupt official as all their investigations and cases fall apart under the scrutiny of the law they are supposed to understand yet, the country supposedly spends 3 billion Naira of our tax on security daily. Permit me to say that the Nigerian police is the summary of all the problems our dear country is facing. They have failed to protect the lives and property of Nigerians. They have failed in arresting and prosecuting corruption. They have failed to render service to those paying their salaries. I remembered an incident that happened to me sometimes last year in Casablanca, where a Police Officer helped me with my baggage just because I appeared tired. I cannot imagine myself or any sensible Nigerian walking to a police station in Nigeria for any sort of help, whatsoever, unless you want to be ripped off.
This case of Edwin is a test for the new IGP who in his own words said, “no officer would go scot free if involved or caught in extra-judicial matters. There is no place in the Nigeria Police Force for any dishonest and undisciplined policeman anymore and this administration will get rid of all misfits and undesirable members of the police force in the country irrespective of their ranks. Corruption and corollary lawlessness by police officers will no longer be tolerated but effectively dealt with. It shall no more be business as usual.”
The police cannot afford to wage war on the masses and expect information about crimes from the same set of people.
Long live Nigeria
Laniran P. Tolulope can be reached on
mal_lt@yahoo.co.uk or follow on twitter @mal_lt
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Exactly its pathetic. The other day I was arrested for sitting on a public seat by a policeman because I asked him who made the law and he said the Governor and I asked him if its in the jurisdiction of the Governor. He got annoyed and arrested me for sitting on a public seat. All I could do was just to shake my head not for the policeman but for his lack of understanding his job, when to arrest and what to arrest for, and most of all those who employed him. If I were to be the Son of a nobody that would have been a disaster cos I actually followed him to the station and was ready to make an issue out of the whole case. But the most saddening issue is the way they lie. Infact its a shame to have uniformed Liars as security. By the time we got to his boss the story changed to “he was transacting”. Now wat I asked was what was I transacting, who did I transact with fterall I can’t transact with myself cos d word transactn implies more than 1 person and is it even a crime to transact in a public place since the word market can be anywhere. U won’t bliv I had to call my fada oda wise I wld av ended up behind bars dt blessed day. NIGERIAN POLICE I¤SMH¤
Put a dog in a pack of wolves and what do you get?
The conditions under which our police men and women serve are pathetic to say the least.
The police stations can criminalize anyone who visits them regularly (let alone those who are made to work there). Every single one I have had the displeasure of entering for one reason or the other STINKS to high heavens.
Jail cells are overcrowded and most times, suspects (who are mostly unfortunate citizens caught in the middle of one fracas or the other and without a means to make bail) are made to sit, eat and defecate on the floors of corridors of the stations. Little wonder no sane person chooses the police station as a dispute resolution ground except in cases of severe frustration.
The current administration should try and clean up the police stations (rather than spuriously fund the office of the NSA) as that is likely to give raise to a sane police population. I’m sure this will be a minimal expenditure relative to some inexplicable figures we have noted in the 2012 budget so far.
Primarily, the police force should engage the services of a cleaning outfit to wash the stations spotless while ensuring that jail population is made up of the most significant cases awaiting trial and not mostly two-fighting or loitering as is the current situation.
Just like we all like to work in a clean environment, I’m sure police people too would like the same cos as the saying goes, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys…
Currently, we have Monkeys
Put a dog in a pack of wolves and what do you get?
The conditions under which our police men and women serve are pathetic to say the least.
The police stations can criminalize anyone who visits them regularly (let alone those who are made to work there). Every single one I have had the displeasure of entering for one reason or the other STINKS to high heavens.
Jail cells are overcrowded and most times, suspects (who are mostly unfortunate citizens caught in the middle of one fracas or the other and without a means to make bail) are made to sit, eat and defecate on the floors of corridors of the stations. Little wonder no sane person chooses the police station as a dispute resolution ground except in cases of severe frustration.
The current administration should try and clean up the police stations (rather than spuriously fund the office of the NSA) as that is likely to give raise to a sane police population. I’m sure this will be a minimal expenditure relative to some inexplicable figures we have noted in the 2012 budget so far.
Primarily, the police force should engage the services of a cleaning outfit to wash the stations spotless while ensuring that jail population is made up of the most significant cases awaiting trial and not mostly two-fighting or loitering as is the current situation.
Just like we all like to work in a clean environment, I’m sure police people too would like the same cos as the saying goes, if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys…
Currently, we have Monkeys