File Photo: Mobile Police officers
The
last time I plied the eastern Nigerian road in a journey to and from
Owerri, the capital city of Imo State, what I saw on the highway
perfectly depicts how corrupt and rotten the Nigerian Police and the
entire system generally has being.
Almost every five kilometers interval
check points and road blocks were mounted by either officers of the
police, federal road safety corps, Immigration, Customs, military and
even the local vigilante groups on the highways. I remembered whispering
to the driver of the commercial vehicle I was in that; if the numerous
checkpoints were strictly for security checks then Nigeria should have
been the best and the most secured nation in the world.
As we advanced through Okene to Okpella,
Auchi to Uromi, Agbor to Asaba, Onitcha to Okhija and finally to Owerri
I was able to count thirty seven road blocks and check points before I
received a lengthy phone call which made me loose count. A journey which
shouldn’t have taken more than eight hours took us almost ten hours
before we got to Owerri, because at every check point and road block the
driver had to stop the vehicle and go on to drop some money in a bag
kept somewhere away from the road by the uniformed men. The amount of
money dropped depends on whether it’s a Military, Police, FRSC, or local
Vigilante which ranged from N200 to N50.
Like tax or toll collectors the Nigerian
security men in uniform mount roads blocks and check points across the
length and breadth of the country and unlawfully harass and extort road
users and motorists of their hard earned monies and belongings. The
situation is the same from the east to the west, from the south to the
north and across the central states of Nigeria. Uniformed security men
who were stationed on our highways and roads to checkmate and curb the
incidences of armed robbery, kidnapping, assassination, terrorism and
movement of arms and ammunitions via the roads from one point to the
other have sadly turned themselves into armed robbers on our highways.
Aside from the regular fees they forcefully coharse motorists and road
users to part with, which they collect daily with so much temerity,
boldness, audacity and guts as if there life depended on it or as if it
is their fundamental right to do so, some policemen have taken their
madness a step further by practically robbing motorists and passengers
of their finances and belongings in an armed robbery-like manner.
The recent incident of one Dr. Itan, a
medical practitioner who narrated his ordeal on how policemen from Area M
command in Lagos state stole about N45, 000 from him. According to Dr.
Itan who works with a private hospital in Iyana Ipaja, he was returning
from an emergency, accompanied by his wife around 1 o’ clock am, when he
was stopped at a police check point. The policemen who initially
demanded the sum of N100, 000 later led his wife to a nearby ATM and
forced her to withdraw N45, 000 for them. The doctor said four other
motorists were also stopped in his presence and they were made to part
with various sums of money.
Although the Lagos State Commissioner of
police, speaking through the public relation officer vowed to identify
and punish the culprits, the action of the Lagos Policemen is only one
out of many that Nigerians endure in the hands of the police and other
men in uniform on a daily basis. Many incidences are often unreported
because of the fear of victimization, even when cases are reported,
victims are frustrated, harassed and intimidated to drop and abandon
them.
On my way to Katsina, the early hours of
around 1:30am, on Wednesday 17th May, 2017. Five armed robbers kitted
in police uniform mounted a road block very close to a town called
Kankara in Katsina state. I had thought it was the routine “stop and
drop something” that Nigeria and Nigerians have shamefully imbibed and
accepted as a way of life when the commercial vehicle filled with
passengers suddenly stopped ahead of me on sighting the policemen who
were armed to the teeth. All of a sudden they started shouting on top of
their voices, asking all the passengers to come out and lay on the
floor. Six other vehicles were stopped including mine. The armed robbers
dressed in police uniforms molested and dispossessed us of various
amounts of money and valuable before we were finally asked to go, after a
successful operation. On getting to Katsina at about a few minutes to
3:00am, I made sure I told the police at the check points I met on my
way in the city of Katsina. Then I was advised to put a call through to
the Katsina State Police Public Relation Unit, but to my surprise and
uttermost dismay I was told to go back to Kankara police station to
formally report the incident.
Apart from the extortions by the police
and other men in uniform on the Nigeria roads which Nigerians seems to
have gotten used to, cases of robbery by men of Nigeria police has
recently been on the rise. It’s very easy criminals to freely move
around or transport arms, ammunitions and bombs from one part of the
country to the other; all they needed to escape the prying eyes of men
of the Nigerian Police or military is to be having plenty of N200 notes
to distribute on the highways. It is sad that some officers of the
federal road safety corps have now abandoned their core mandate on the
nation’s roads to now extorting motorists and demanding gratifications
from vehicle owners.
It’s unfortunate that when one reports a
crime to the Nigeria police of today he is asked to pay money before a
real investigation can take place. It is usually the victims of crimes
that funds police investigation and prosecution. Excuses of “our
vehicles are down” “or “our vehicles have no fuel” is what Nigerians are
usually faced with whenever they report a serious crime. It is a good
thing that the present administration has waged a serious war against
corruption and has left no one in doubt of its resolve to rid the entire
country of corrupt elements. The truth is that any war against
corruption which does not start or begin with the police and other
security agencies is dead on arrival. Sadly, since inception of the APC
led government, no serious structural, administrative or operational
reform has been done in the police. We need to rid the Nigerian police
of corruption and corrupt tendencies before we can use or rely on them
to help fish out and arrest criminals and corrupt elements.
Hussain Obaro writes from oseniobaro@yahoo.com.
The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the author.
0 comments:
Post a Comment