Last week, a US-based Nigerian, Chima Ordu, was reportedly remanded in a Lagos prison after taking photographs of a policewoman allegedly taking bribes from motorists. The 40-year-old had reportedly sighted the policewoman performing what some residents described as her daily routine of flagging down motorists and collecting bribes from them at the Oludegun Junction in Isolo, Lagos. Sensing a good opportunity to burst crime, he had hidden behind a fence and swiftly taken photographs and video recordings of the policewoman.
He was however arrested by plain-clothes colleagues of the policewoman who had apparently monitored his ‘suspicious’ movements. The phone was reportedly confiscated and the hapless Ordu was charged to court for obstruction by snapping photos of a police officer performing her lawful duty under the Criminal Code. A magistrate, one Mrs. J.O.E Adeyemi of the Isolo Magistrates’ Court reportedly granted him bail in the sum of N20,000 with one surety in like sum while ordering that he should be remanded in prison pending the perfection of his bail conditions. According to media reports, Ordu had been asked to tender an apology as a precondition for the police to drop the case, but he had stood his ground, insisting that he had done no wrong. We think that he is right.
There have in recent times been numerous cases of Nigerians making audio or video recordings of policemen attempting to extort money from motorists or other citizens. Against that backdrop, it can be understood if fresh attempts to make such recordings are resisted by erring officers and men of the police force. Yet the police authorities must create a climate of freedom and responsibility whereby those who have made such recordings can easily hand them over to them without fear. Such a state of affairs would no doubt instill fear in the ranks and file of the police as they are made to realise that their dark deeds can easily become public knowledge through the vigilance of a digitally savvy citizenry.
We urge the authorities to speak up on the extant case because, to say the least, the incident casts a slur on the image and integrity of the Nigeria Police Force. It is saddening that, more than a week after the story broke, the Lagos State police command has not issued a statement on the incident. Could it be that the command is not aware of that ugly incident widely reported in the media, or that it is too embarrassed to make a statement on it? That would be unfortunate for a force which, at least in recent times, has swiftly sanctioned erring officers as a way of demonstrating that it would not condone indiscipline within its ranks.
How indeed can the police serve and protect with integrity when members of the public who attempt to point out their misdeeds are punished with the connivance of judges issuing controversial rulings? How on earth is taking the picture of a police woman extorting bribes from motorists equivalent to “obstruction by snapping photos of a police officer performing her lawful duty under the Criminal Code”? Surely, the point is not being made that extortion has suddenly become “a lawful duty”? Certainly, no one would blame the police for taking photographs of citizens committing such crimes, intending to use them as proofs of evidence. Sadly, almost two decades since the return to civil rule, some officers and men of the uniformed services have refused to let go of the vestiges of military rule. They still nurture a bloated sense of self-worth and look down on the civil populace, thinking that the arms placed in their custody through taxpayers’ funds are an affirmation of their social superiority.
Worse still, members of the political class hardly fare better. More often than not, they show nothing but contempt for the people on whose behalf they are supposedly on the corridors of power. Admittedly, this sad state of affairs is not peculiarly Nigerian. To take just one example, in Uganda, criticising the president may be used as proof of insanity. President Yoweri Museveni, who burst unto the national scene 31 years ago pretending to be a voice of moderation after Idi Amin’s brutality, has imposed a regime of tyranny on the country. Using the Mental Treatment Act of 1938, he had a student forcibly taken several times to a psychiatric hospital for lampooning him on social media. And only on Monday, Stella Nyanzi, until recently a research fellow at Makerere University in Kampala, the capital, was charged with “cyber harassment” and “offensive communication” after a series of Facebook posts lampooning the president, beaten up brutally, and referred for mental examination.
We call on the police headquarters to ensure the release of Citizen Chima Ordu without delay, and bring the officers involved in the malfeasance surrounding his ordeal to book. We also call on the National Judicial Council (NJC) to probe the circumstances surrounding Ordu’s remand in prison for a non-existent crime. Under no circumstances must the judiciary, the proverbial last hope of the common man, be found aiding and abetting tyranny.