WHEN POLICE OFFICERS NEED POLICING
“Gentlemen, get the thing straight once and for all. The policeman isn't there to create disorder, the policeman is there to preserve disorder”.[1]
“I am very far from being prepared to admit that the improvement of the situation of a common police constable by giving him more money would increase the efficiency of the establishment”.[2]
It was never our intention to discuss or pick on the police and as much as we would love to discuss, acknowledge and applaud the good they have done in Nigeria, it appears sadly that they have done more bad than good especially when an innocent person is tortured as the saying goes, better to free a thousand guilty people than punish an innocent soul. It also appears that it is not only in Nigeria that the police are complained about. They are oftentimes seen as terror and here in Nigeria, their favourite slogan is the police is your friend, how do we reconcile that?
Recently, a police man allegedly shot and killed a cab driver and a pregnant woman in front of a bank in Mpape, a satellite town in Abuja. There was reportedly no riot at the time of the incidence, for his designation had read Anti riot Policeman, so what was he shooting for? David Mamet knew what he was saying when he said that “Policemen so cherish their status as keepers of the peace and protectors of the public that they have occasionally been known to beat to death those citizens or groups that question that status”.[3]
Eye witnesses testified that the poor cab driver allegedly argued with the police guy on where to park and met his untimely death. We recall that after the untimely incident, the police was said to have ordered the withdrawal of anti riot police men in all banks and we ask, were they withdrawn and taken to petrol stations instead? In a society filled with trigger thirsty police men, what is the fate of the average man who walks into the filling station to buy petroleum products and he sees a police man parading his gun and he isn’t even wearing a uniform or a badge? Can you even begin to imagine the psychological trauma the person will face in the few minutes he has to spend there or even the workers who are exposed, what if the police man fires amidst the very volatile petroleum products; the disaster is in three folds: Explosion, Damages and Deaths. These are better imagined.
Ok let’s digress a bit; what explanation does a police officer has for extortion, bribery and corruption? We may say it’s not every police officer but there is an Ibo adage that says when one finger touches oil, it spreads to the rest. How do they explain the two hundred an fifty naira, they collect from bus drivers for parking at places other than their bus stops? One would think that in a civilized society, a driver would get a warning or a ticket but these days, they just pull you over and while they are sitting in their car, the conductor just walks up to the police officers, hands them the two hundred and fifty naira and they drive off.
Last year, a lady was shot twice in the head by police officers because the bus drivers refused to give them two hundred and fifty naira.
A while ago we thought there was a law banning all police men from having road checkpoints, but now it seems the checkpoints have increased, the worst part is that robbery still takes place under their very nose. Sometimes one wonders who the robbers really are? These check points are not helping matters and if they must, why not from their cars, why on earth do they have to cause traffic jam with their road blocks, compounding the sorry state of our roads.
We do not even want to go to the infringement of rights of citizens that take place everyday; all we are saying is that we need a change, not just in the uniforms but in the attitude and service. It is supposed to be a service to humanity and God, there should be a sober reflection. Police officers should be called to order, they should try to do more good than harm, and they should restore the integrity bestowed on them. They can start by being law abiding themselves and other things will follow. For us to have a free and fair election next month the police has a big role to play. The safety of the citizens of this great nation depends on them. We congratulate them on the journey so far but they could do a lot better.
No comments:
Post a Comment