If you have ever cringed at the sight of police operatives collecting money from motorists or levying complainants, you may do well to direct your anger at the Federal Government and authorities at the Nigerian Police Force.

THE WHISTLER recently embedded with a police patrol team in the Federal Capital Territory and saw how operatives are forced to protect residents at the detriment of their own welfare.

The reporter was allowed to embed after promising not to reveal the name of the police division and the identities of members of the patrol team.

The reporter joined the patrol team that took off from the divisional headquarters around 11 am with four armed policemen led by an assistant superintendent of police.

The team drove through its Area of Concentration in the city to perform security surveillance. The team told the reporter they are officers of the Patrol and Guard, the unit that conducts patrol throughout the 24 hours of a day, every day.

To start the Toyota Hilux vehicle, the driver (a sergeant), had to connect two wires before revving it into life. It was a well-used vehicle without air-conditioning system or radio. The driver and passenger seats were badly damaged with the foam spilling out.

The vehicle was not in good condition for an emergency operation. “We have had several cases during midnight patrol when we tried to chase a criminal or respond to an emergency, and we couldn’t kick off immediately,” the driver said after seeing how surprised the reporter was.

AS we drove through the patrol’s jurisdiction, the vehicle made cracking noise which was ignored by the occupants because it was a familiar sound. Then we got to a place designated as “dark spot” where crimes such as phone or bag theft, car-snatching or burglary and other forms of robberies are common.

The vehicle stopped at the roadside for a few minutes, allowing the operatives survey the scene for threats to security. This is what the team does daily, stopping here and there to assess situations and intervene to prevent crime or breakdown of order.

Like when a car trying to make a U-Turn collided with a motorcycle rider who was in a hurry. The situation had caused a mild gridlock. The car owner was surrounded by the rider’s colleagues when the team got there.

The police intervened, resolved the conflict and dispersed the crowd.

The vehicles moved slowly out of the scene in continuation of surveillance. After about 250 metres, the patrol slowed and the vehicle moved to a stop by the roadside close to another dark spot. It was time to conduct “stop-and-search.”

An officer revealed the team had recovered “guns, cutlasses and stolen cars” through such random searches.

When the operation proceeded again, we had spent nearly an hour and the vehicle was running out of fuel. The driver spoke to the team leader about it and everyone was asked to contribute money. The officers, except the driver, raised N4,000 to buy fuel from a Total Filling Station before the patrol continued.

When asked whether the station did not provide money for fuel, members of the team said the division, like others, does not receive any funding for vehicle maintenance and fuel, and every station has to source funds.

“We spend nothing less than N3000 to N4000 daily and an average of N90,000 monthly to fuel this vehicle. Even when we receive an order for joint operation with another Division, we will still fuel it ourselves,” an officer explained.

Read more: https://thewhistler.ng/investigation-shows-fct-police-patrol-teams-still-fuel-maintain-vehicles-with-personal-funds-despite-fgs-n4bn-budget/

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