When the purpose of a thing is not known, the abuse is inevitable. Some abuse can however be fatal. This justifies the warning given to Alaigboran, who intended to use the dry bark of a plantain tree in climbing a palm tree. The Nigeria Police Force is no different from Alaigboran. The police force, like the legendary Alaigboran have also decided not to heed to the continual warning voices of the elders and youth alike. How soon would it be before the fate of Alaigboran befalls the force as a whole?
This question is not one that members of the force conside ever so often. Perhaps, the trust in their continued existence as a vital organ of the government is one that keeps their rascality alive. Maybe, it is the fact that they will be punished for wrongdoing away from the prying eye of the society; if they are ever punished at all. Either of their assumptions, it has indeed gotten to their head.
Onnoghen rejects CCT’s judgement
It was this same assumption of a false Atlantis that prompted the members of the Special Anti-robbery Squad to go on rampage in 2018. They began stopping anyone who looked like an internet fraudster and were not only searching them but also extorting them. When my friend mentioned one of such happening, I laughed it off I was quick to mention the case of the United States Guantanamo bay operation as I preached to him to dress more modestly. It wasn’t until I was served a dose of the medicine did I know that members of the SARS meant business.
Isn’t it funny that men who were supposed to be on stand-by in case of a theft parade themselves at strange corners to extort the youth of the nation? While some were internet fraudsters, the definition of the SARS internet fraudsters was quite faulty. It was only after much public outcry, did the presidency decide to make slight changes to the unit. Did that stop the Alaigboran act? I daresay no!
It has only been a week ago when the nation was shocked with the death of Kolade Johnson. He was on his way back from a viewing center where he had gone to watch a match when he was gunned down in cold blood by a police operative. Kolade was another victim of a wrongly defined enemy; his dreadlock prompted a high-ranking police officer to go on the record to say dreads and tattoos are alien to our culture. He may be right, but does that justify shooting everyone who has a dread or tattoo? That remains a question only the police force can answer.
On the 8th of April, there was a bank robbery in the Ido-Ani area of Ondo State where seven lives were lost. The robbery lasted over an hour and the six thieves carted away a large sum of money from the bank. It was surprising to find out that operatives of the Nigeria Police Force and particularly, members of the special anti-robbery squad were not on hand to show the brute force they are known for. It was the men of the Nigerian Army who apprehended one of the armed robbers.
While the armed robbers may not be wearing the sacred dread lock, they clearly constituted a nuisance to the general safety of the public. They may not have tattoos etched on them but they clearly had the wrong ideologies and principles etched in their minds. Despite the grievous and heinous crimes they have committed, they could not be shot like Kolade.
Where were the operatives of the special anti-robbery squad during the robbery? If they were unavailable, how about their sister unit; the much-dreaded anti-cultism squad? Is it that they delight more in extorting and shooting people who pose no risk to the lives and peace of their fellow human? These are just a few of the questions on my mind.
The average Nigerian is aware of the fact that the police is closer to the people than the Army. Indeed, the duties of the army is to protect the citizen against external aggression while that of the police is to protect lives and properties from internal aggression. The Nigerian police seems to be fast losing the meaning of its job description; it does not include gunning down harmless citizens in cold blood.
The Nigerian police and all of its departments and squads need to identify their enemies and fight them accordingly. Sun Tzu, the master Chinese strategist once opined that the first step in the art of war is to know the enemy then to go on and know one’s own self. The Men of the Nigerian police seem to place the cart before the horse and that is the very reason why we are here.
I hope Alaigboran heeds to the warning of the elders and come down from the lofty heights of the palm tree, for a fall is imminent.
Adeleke wrote in from Ibadan.