It’s no longer news, even to the deaf and blind, that the Nigerian State is presently plagued with myriad problems and excessive recklessness. Those that are supposed to be the peacekeepers have unarguably turned into the terror mongers. The Police that is supposed to beour best friends have, instead, turned into our most dreaded enemies.
Yesterday, at a hotel lobby in Port Harcourt, I overheard two young women having a conversation centred on the type of men they would love to marry. The prettier lady said “I will marry a Policeman because they make plenty money.” The other lady, probably older and more experienced, replied, in a not so friendly tone, “Are you mad? So you want to marry a killer, a liar and a legalized criminal. Do you think the Police are still good people? Do you think they are your friends?” I stopped listening and walked.
Maybe she is right, maybe she isn’t. But here is my story.
Last week, I went to a friend’s house for a little get-together, he was celebrating his birthday. We gathered in a peaceful assembly, in his sitting room, cheering and bantering amidst bottles of drinks andPlates of peppered soup. Then, I received aphone call from another friend asking me to pick him at the end of the street. No sooner had I left the place than the Police raided the compound and arrested all my friends – ladies included. We had to bail them, with an outrageous sum, two days later, afterwards the Police took them round to conduct searches in their respective houses. But then, what would have warranted the arrest? They refused to say anything useful except that they were carrying out their routine surveillance in the area.
We later realised, from people around, that the exercise is their normal routine when they get broke and need some extracash for the weekends. One of the Men in black, whilst searching my friend’s house, shamelessly pleaded with him to give himone of the many beautifully arranged goblets in the house. Utter insanity!
As though that was not enough, I read the blood chilling story of Lucy, the 20 years old lady that was carelessly killed by somegun trotting Police men in the Apo area of Abuja. The girl was hit in the chest by bullets fired indiscriminately into a Photography shop where she worked as a Sales Rep. Scores of other people sustainedinjuries by stray bullets. Emeka Ani, ownerof the Photoshop where the deceased worked, said that his other Sales Rep, a boy, also sustained injuries during the incident.
Recently, in Kaduna, Late Mr Elisha’s death is another sad and callous killing by the Nigerian Police. The deceased had gone to create peace between two Policemen fighting shamelessly on the street, perhaps, because of a small bribe. The officers, angered by the audacity the ‘ordinary civilian’ had shown to resolve their fight, descended on him brutally, leaving him foaming in the mouth and badly wounded. He later died in the hospital.
The heart shattering testimony given by the sister of one of the four University of Port Harcourt undergraduates that were gruesomely murdered by a mob in the Aluu Community is another frightening story that seeks to find the answer to the question, ‘Are the Police still our friends and protectors or have they simply turned into our enemies?’
The young lady testified that an unknown person had alerted the Police about the ongoing incident. They arrived, chatted wittingly with the murder kingpins, and gave them the authority to kill the innocent undergraduates after beating them mercilessly. This order, I strongly believe, is what propelled the blood thirsty mob to carry out the dastardly act in broad daylight. How can a Police officer order a mob to kill another person? In my opinion, the murder was carefully orchestrated in unison with the Police. The Police I.G recently released fairly detailed information to the general public but meticulously declined to mention the significant role his men played in the murder. Investigations didn’t reveal that significant part. Once again, the Police have escaped unscathed.

The lists are endless; I’m sure every truthful Nigerian has a sad story to tell about their sour relationship with the Police. Their performance index is distinctly underwhelming. On the scale of 1-10, I doubt if they would score up to a quarter. Their aloofness in the face of crimes is becoming inordinately disastrous. Most times, they end up being the perpetrators of such crimes. Careless and random arrests are becoming the usual business. They do these with impunity, believing that nothing can happen to them and most times nothing happens to them. They are somewhat above the law. The only laws they recognise are the laws of their bosses and wads of naira notes. Dreams and futures have been shattered and buried by their careless acts.
The Nigerian Government must address and redress these problems of the Police because the general public can no longer afford to suffer the pains of their careless and, sometimes, wicked acts. Their utter distain for the protection of human lives must stop. It pains us that our relationship pattern is purely a hate-hate type.
We have to sensitize this sector and the major way is not to change their uniforms. Changing uniforms without changing attitudes is like putting a rotten wine in a new bottle. The best way to bring about proper sensitization is to carry out a holistic sanitization activity. The Government must search, identify and flush out the bad eggs in the system because all Police men are not corrupt, some are good.
High premiums must also be placed on recruitments and trainings. They must recruit willing and passionate Nigerians to take up the job. Policing must stop being a job of the last resort, a job of graduated touts.
The Government must not fail to give the newly recruits both qualitative and quantitative trainings on effective Policing in Nigeria, and abroad if necessary. These simple steps must have to be addressed so that efficiency, faith and trust shall be renewed
We cannot afford to be victims in the hands of our protectors; we want a good relationship with the Police. We simply want the Police to be our good friends.
Follow Richard Chilee on twitter @richardchilee