WILL there be any respite for the citizenry from the burgeoning and pervasive criminality in Nigeria? And with the crime coming from unexpected quarters like the security agencies, is hope of a safe and secure country not yielding ground to despondency? This, perhaps, is the gravest security issue confronting the country, and it is frightening because what was programmed to be the nucleus of solutions to security challenges is gradually becoming the problem. For instance, recently, the Rivers State Police Command detained four of its personnel for allegedly kidnapping a Port Harcourt hotel worker and demanding N1 million ransom from the family. The victim, Darlington Bieh, who hails from Taabaa in Khana local council area of the state, was reportedly intercepted around Choba in the Obio/Akpor area of the state by some policemen on patrol as he headed to work around 8. 00 p.m. The kidnappers took him to Aluu community where they demanded ransom using his phone and waited for his family to pay.
The aberrant police personnel reportedly searched his bags, pockets, and phone but found nothing incriminating. However, while scrolling through his phone, which they had no right to do, they reportedly saw pictures indicating that the young man worked in a big hotel around the area and they went for broke. He was no longer a person of interest for possible criminal inquiry but a potential cash cow. This development is patently antithetical to the core mandate of the police, which is the protection of lives and properties. Worst still, like the regular kidnappers, these police personnel also reportedly threatened to kill Bieh and dump his body in the Choba River if his family failed to pay the ransom they demanded! But Bieh and his boss, the owner of the hotel, acted smartly. Rather than calling his father as directed, Bieh called his boss, and the boss in turn called a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) who pretended to be the victim’s father and negotiated the ransom with the rogue officers. The DPO with his men later swooped on the criminals, disarmed and arrested them, and rescued the victim.
It is really comforting that the DPO is not a rogue officer, otherwise the security and safety of the victim might have been jeopardised. This DPO, who personally led the operation to arrest the policemen, did not make it an esprit de corps matter. It is unfortunate that those paid to protect Nigerians chose to kidnap and rob them. It is as if the state commissioned cats to protect mice. They abused their authority and deployed the instruments of their office to achieve criminal and morally reprehensible ends. This incident shows that there are still many bad eggs in the system. The police authorities should weed them out, while at the same time paying adequate attention to the need to properly scrutinize recruits. The case is still fresh in Kano where some notorious criminals in the city have reportedly been enlisted in the constabulary system. The Kano allegation has yet to be given a satisfactory explanation, and it is not unlikely that those alleged outlaws had ulterior motives for joining the security agencies.
Often, criminals like to have legal access to arms under the protection of the state in order to carry out their nefarious activities with minimal risks. For instance, it will be difficult to believe that the four rogue police personnel currently in the eye of the storm had previously not been engaging in criminal activities or at least had the tendency to do so before joining the police force. A situation where an innocent and hardworking citizen going to his work station to eke out an existence suddenly became a kidnapping victim in the hands of police personnel shows the level of degeneration that has become the norm in the country. Imagine police personnel on duty who should be a succour for people on the streets when in distress turning themselves into criminals and preying on innocent people who would otherwise be expected to approach them for protection! Besides, is it not disturbing that not one, but four police personnel could gang up in the course of duty and hatch the criminal plan of turning an innocent person into a victim of kidnapping? Why did none of them object to the criminal idea when it came up?
This turn of events is scary and worrisome. What is commonplace and which the country is still contending with is the usual but perilous collaboration between some unscrupulous security agents and criminals to subvert/breach the law for pecuniary gain, which in itself is deplorable and treacherous. However, it is the height of treachery against the state and the citizens for police personnel to go solo and kidnap innocents citizen for ransom! Yet, perhaps all hope is not lost. After all, the DPO in the instant case is also a police officer and when contacted on the case, he did not go rogue like his subordinates. Rather, he decided to follow the rules to get them apprehended. This shows that it is not impossible to get things done rightly if only those in positions of responsibility decide to do what is right. That is why we will continue to stress the imperative of strict adherence to processes and procedures in the conduct of public affairs, including recruitment into the police force, particularly the rank and file, so that outcomes will approximate expectations. And of course, this will be the situation in general terms if those in authority allow the structures and rules put in place to work.
For instance, it is curious that kidnappers continue to successfully carry out their crimes and rip off Nigerians despite using telephones as their means of contact with the families of victims and often obtaining ransom payments through banks even when there are rules guiding the National Identity Number (NIN) and Bank Verification Number (BVN) attached to all phone numbers and bank accounts respectively. If there had been no compromises along the line and the security agencies braced up to their responsibilities, kidnappers would not have continued to have a field day. But how could the police be totally committed, in a pragmatic sense, to curbing criminal acts when some of their personnel engage in criminal activities, when not aiding and abetting criminals?
We urge the authorities to make an example of those involved in the current case and ensure that they are punished to the full extent of the law if convicted. Nonetheless, it important to reiterate that a more enduring panacea to dangerous abuse of power and authority by armed officials of the state lies in the government putting in place solid structures and oversight that would prevent such abuse going forward.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
COP28 delegates: Invest in production, not frivolities, Peter Obi knocks Tinubu
Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 general elections has reacted to the long list of delegates that travelled with…
I studied for seven hours daily for four years — ACU best graduating student
To attain great academic success, the best-graduating student at Ajayi Crowther University for the 2022–2023 academic session, Susanna Akinteye, has…
CBN will freeze your accounts if you don’t link your BVN-NIN
The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said that all accounts without the Bank Verification Number (BVN) and…
How housewives are coping with exorbitant cost of pepper
YEJIDE GBENGA-OGUNDARE reports that in addition to significant increase in cost of food items, many Nigerian homes that…
Service chiefs on national security
SPEAKING at the Green Chamber when he led service chiefs to address parliamentarians on pertinent security issues last week, the Chief of…
Gusau outlines 2030 vision for Nigeria football development
President, Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), Ibrahim Musa Gusau, has outlined his plan for…
and then