The Police And the People

national | miscellaneous | news report Saturday June 29, 2002 02:39 by Kayode Samuel Lagos

The death of a young person is always a cause for grief and sadness anywhere. When such a death takes place through the agency of murder in tragic and avoidable circumstances it becomes even more saddening. But where three young persons of promise are murdered in cold blood within a space of a few days by their supposed protectors and in situations of brazen abuse of power, then something really worrisome is going on. The way our streets and highways are being turned into killing fields by people paid from our tax money must concern and frighten all of us.

Which is why the unprecedented public outrage over the multiple police killings in Lagos last week is both understandable and justified. I wish to join my voice to the chorus of condolences that has been flowing to the families of the slain youngsters - Oluwatosin Adelugba, Nnamdi Ekwuyasi and Morakinyo Akerele - since the sad incidents. May their souls rest in peace. May we also continue to hope against hope that these latest killings would indeed mark the beginning of our nation's genuine turn-around from the long reign of police brutality in our land.The careless shooting to death of people at police check points on flimsy grounds has for long been a feature of law enforcement in Nigeria. The latest upsurge resulting in the serial killings signposts a return to trigger-happy policing that is not acceptable in a country just recovering from its recent traumas. We must all rise as one to resist the casual taking of lives by the police.

That the Nigeria police continue to kill defenceless people while still providing no clue to the murder over six months ago of the nation's chief law officer, Chief Bola Ige, the late Attorney-General, says a lot about the seriousness and sincerity of the fight against crime which is the ostensible reason for the deployment of the trigger-happy goons now tormenting us. It would appear that despite official protestations to the contrary, the purpose and philosophy of policing in Nigeria still do not accommodate such niceties as the sanctity of life or the security of the property of ordinary citizens. Annihilation awaits anyone who cannot pay his way through.

Extortionist intentions on the part of the police are always a part of the storyline in these tragic incidents. This further confirms the resilience of police corruption, which is often the midwife of police brutality. As things now stand, the ordinary citizen is just about as likely to be shot dead by an armed robber as by a policeman. It is not comforting to know that both the law and the outlaw are now engaged in a race to dispossess you of your valuables, including your life. But at least in the case of the armed robber, you know they are really after something substantial. How do you start to make sense of people who shoot you for refusing to part with 20 Naira?

My friend Ayo Olayinka had an encounter with this breed last Tuesday. He had been accosted at Allen Roundabout in Ikeja by policemen who alleged that he beat the traffic light. Convinced that he did no such thing, Ayo had asked to be taken to the traffic court to prove his case. The policemen on their own part asked him to "cooperate" and "settle" with 2,000 naira as the fine at the tribunal was 7,000 naira. Unimpressed by their generosity, Ayo insisted he would still prefer to go to the court where he may not have to pay anything anyway if he was not found guilty.

And so off they went, first to the police traffic post at Anifowoshe near the Ikeja local government office where he was to be "booked" for onward transfer to the tribunal at Alausa. On the way, the policemen asked Ayo why he was being so difficult. He told them he considered bribery to be a sin and that he did not wish to sin. One of the policemen then called him a pastor and referred him what Jesus Christ said in Matthew 5:25 about agreeing with your adversary quickly while on the way lest he delivers you to the judge who could in turn deliver you to the officer who would put you in prison. As the matter had by then gone biblical, Ayo who was on familiar ground lectured the policemen on the context in which Christ made the statement, pointing out that it had nothing to do with giving bribe to the police. They then tried another line, asking him to "just bring anything" while referring him to the oft-cited Bible verse also in the book of Matthew about rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar's. Again Ayo told them that the Caesar whom Christ was referring to was the taxman and that he was not sure that policemen were tax collectors. By this time they had arrived the station where Ayo met a crowd of similarly circumstanced motorists whom he promptly started preaching to about the evils of paying bribe. Sensing that they might have a "trouble-maker" on their hands who could ruin the day's "business" the policemen let him go.

It is not always that the story has such a happy ending, as the cases of the three murdered youngsters show. The police hierarchy has demonstrated prompt and commendable contriteness over the murders. But that does not restore the lives snuffed out. Police brutality continues to blight the work of those fine gentlemen and ladies in the force who labour day and night to protect the law abiding. It also puts a big question mark on the much-awaited democracy dividend. People who perpetrate it must be treated not only as enemies of the state but also as enemies of the people. For police brutality is nothing short of a war on the people.

One zone, one party

The formal presentation of certificates of registration to the three newly registered political parties last Monday brings the total number of parties in the country to six. Looking through the credentials and composition of the new parties, the first thought that would readily come to mind is. So what's new? For many, what separates the six parties one from the other is really no more than the difference between six and half-a-dozen. Other than a wish to fulfill all righteousness in order to be seen to have carried out a statutory duty, I do not know why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) bothered at all to take us all through all the rigmarole.

I have never bought this silly idea of having a government body determine which association qualifies or does not qualify to be a political party. Nor do I subscribe to the rogue notion that a party has to have a so-called national spread in order to be able to canvass for votes. The process is so heavily rigged in favour of the thieves amongst us who are the only ones that can bankroll the clearly undemocratic requirements of party formation in these parts. But we must look to the bright side of things. Perhaps now that we have six parties we may be headed for the happy situation whereby each of the six geopolitical zones in the country will have its own party.