At a period when corruption is endemic in the Nigerian system, especially within government institutions and many see the average police officer as being an epitome of corruption, a female police officer in Anambra State, Inspector Charity Oyor, has raised the bar by confirming that there are still people of integrity in Nigeria.
Inspector Charity Oyor, who serves at Onitsha Main Market Police Division in Onitsha North Local Government Area of the state, last week got recognised for her integrity by the Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Aderemi Adeoye, and was rewarded with the sum of N250, 000.
She was said to have rejected a bribe from a suspect whom she intercepted carrying six heavy bundles of stripped armoured cable suspected to have been stolen, after stopping the driver to inquire about the consignment and rather than explain how he came to be in possession of the cable, he offered her a bribe which she rejected.
She put a call through to another Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Superintendent Joy Chidinma Ikpeama, another female, who led police personnel to the scene and arrested the suspect while the cable was impounded and taken to the station for investigation.
Oyor’s action is not only a wakeup call to all police personnel but every woman and Nigerians as a whole on the need to always uphold the ethics of their profession and shunning all forms of compromise in the discharge of their duties.
Before this act, Inspector Oyor was just a police officer like every other operative, carrying out her assignment in the traffic around Onitsha main market but her status has now changed and she is one of the faces of efficiency and credibility within the police in her domain.
And while she vowed to rededicate herself to the job she loves so much and thanked the commissioner for his generosity, her action is indeed a lesson to others that no matter the situation, integrity must not be compromised.
Superintendent Joy Chidinma Ikpeama should also be commended, not just for her quick action that made Oyor’s efforts fruitful but for running a tight ship of credible officers as it was reported that at the station, the suspect again offered a sum of N500,000 to be allowed to go, which was rejected by the officers.
Indeed, all the officers at the facility who rejected the N500,000 bribe deserve to be commended and encouraged for their uprightness in upholding the ethics of their profession and refusing to be compromised in the discharge of their duties.
And while Inspector Oyor enjoys her celebrity status, her action should be a lesson to others.
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