THERE seems to be no end in sight to aberrant behaviour by some police personnel, a situation that has dragged the name of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) through the mud time and again. Over time, we had run a litany of editorials on professional misconduct by policemen, including but not limited to culpable negligence, bribery, aiding and abetting crimes, and brutality. And on each occasion, we stressed the imperative of reforms in the service but apparently, those commentaries and admonitions did not resonate with the relevant authorities, and so they could not care a hoot about effectuating the desired positive attitudinal and operational alterations in the service’s rank and file. Penultimate week, we did an editorial on an Enugu-based popular musician, Chikezie Mbah, who was brutally gunned down by a policeman while on a friendly visit to the Anti-Cult Tactical Squad headquarters in Enugu, Enugu State. This time around, another act of gross misconduct currently occupying the front burner of national discourse is that involving the extortion of N10 million from a group of young Nigerians by four misguided police personnel in Bayelsa State. Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Muyiwa Adejobi had recently, on behalf of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, disclosed that the force had successfully recovered N10 million allegedly extorted from a group of young Nigerians by four officers in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. The officers allegedly coerced their victims into releasing the huge sum to them.
The money was reportedly recovered from the suspects through the efforts of the new Assistant Inspector-General (AIG) of Police in charge of Zone 16, Adebola Hamzat, who also ordered that the officers be detained and subjected to an orderly room trial. It is really disturbing that these experienced but apparently unscrupulous police personnel could extort N10 million in one fell swoop from some citizens. And that raises a poser as to how long these officers had been illegally making that kind of money. Certainly, the N10 million incident couldn’t have been their first extortion of bribes from their victims, even though they may claim it is, now that they have been caught. This is an embarrassment, not just to the police but also to the country itself. Extorting money from people with arms provides the essential ingredients of armed robbery. Indeed, the larceny by threat of violence involved in the instant case is of the worst variant because it embodies elements of treachery and betrayal of trust as the arms which the rogue officers allegedly used to rob their victims were provided by the state and legally assigned to them to protect lives and properties. How could officers of the law break the law in a manner that is patently antithetical to their oath of office without any qualms? And what sort of crime did the victims commit that the suspects demanded and got N10 million in order to look the other way? Or was it a case of plain armed robbery devoid of criminal acts, real or imagined, on the part of the victims? Yes, these kinds of occurrences are no longer strange to Nigerians anymore since they have become routine, but that does not by any means diminish the egregious indiscipline they represent, especially in a supposedly disciplined and regimented service. Sadly, this will only further erode public confidence in the police.
There is even an impression out there that acts of criminality and professional misconduct are second nature to many police personnel. Indeed, the notion is fast gaining traction that many youths actually joined the police in order to fulfill their inordinate ambitions to use state power in brutalizing innocent citizens and gain access to filthy lucre, using their vantage position to breach the law for their selfish ends. It is also believed in some quarters that police personnel usually influence their posting to locations within the country where they think their ignoble objectives could be easily achieved. While this opinion may be incorrect or exaggerated, the spate of aberrant conduct by some police personnel largely provides a fertile ground for the germination of this trend of thought. Police authorities must look into the recruitment process which appears to be defective and incapable of screening out criminals from the system. Loopholes that could breed or allow aberrant conduct to thrive should be properly plugged through the use of technology and the monitoring and supervision of subordinates by senior officers.
It is comforting that police authorities are showing more than a passing interest in the instant case. The IGP has reportedly ordered a comprehensive investigation into corruption and misconduct allegations within the force and specifically condemned the extortion by officers in various parts of the country, including the Zone 16 zonal headquarters in Yenagoa. This is good to know but Nigerians heard such lines from his predecessors even as decadence in the police continued to burgeon rather than wane. Nonetheless, we urge the authorities to ensure that the suspects are diligently prosecuted. The police should be interested in the antecedents of the suspects in the force, especially with regard to similar professional misconduct in the past. The question should be asked as to whether the suspects acted alone in a one-off act, or whether their action was part of a systemic arrangement. Why did it take a new AIG of Zone 6 to unearth and recover the proceeds of this criminal act? What was happening before the new sheriff came into town? What is the occupation of the young Nigerians from whom the suspects extorted N10 million? How were they able to raise the huge bribe? These posers are very germane in determining whether or not the police have in their hands a case of misunderstanding between criminal elements and moles within the service who are giving them protection.
The unfortunate incident should be disturbing to discerning citizens on two main grounds. One, the huge transaction value involved suggests that it may have entailed certain operational and security compromises. That in itself shows how unsafe and insecure the country is under the watch of the leading agency on internal security. Again, the horrific incident indicates the scale of decadence that has crept into the police and the society at large. Thus, the force must execute needed reforms and tweak its strategic and operational modalities to rein in the growing acts of indiscipline in the service. Otherwise, at the rate the personnel is causing erosion of public confidence in the force, the raison d’etre for its existence may soon be subjected to interrogation by reason of public perception of burgeoning ineffectiveness and waning relevance.
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