The United Nations has been overwhelmed with complaints that Nigeria is fast becoming a police state which is somehow incongruous with the self-evident and glaring insecurity all over our beloved nation.
The current Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres who is a seasoned politician (he was formerly the Prime Minister of Portugal) in addition to being a diplomat thought he had seen it all and heard it all, until he started delving into the complaints against Nigerian policemen.
Front page headline of “Daily Trust” newspaper of
December 8, 2020: “COURT DISSOLVES MARRIAGE OVER WIFE’S PROMISCUITY: (I) “A
44-year-old man, Mr. Sheriff Ahmed, on Monday, in Lagos, secured a divorce from
his wife who he accused of having an extra marital affair with a policeman. Mr.
Sheriff had petitioned an Igando customary court, seeking dissolution of his
marriage to Rashidat (33) over promiscuity. He earlier told the court that, “My
wife is promiscuous; she is having affair with a POLICEMAN. I checked her phone
and saw love chats and other immoral talks with the policeman on WhatsApp. We
fought over it and I wanted to send her packing but due to intervention from
friends and relatives, I forgave her.”
Responding, Rashidat consented to the dissolution of
the marriage, telling the court that she was tired of battering by Sheriff.
After listening to both parties, the judge dissolved the marriage.” (II) “MY
HUSBAND (WHO IS A POLICEMAN !!) HIDES FOOD, DIVORCE-SEEKING WIFE TELLS COURT”
“A business woman, Mutiat Asimiyu, on Monday, told a
customary court sitting in Mapo, Ibadan, that her husband, Ganiyu Asimiyu, (who
is a policeman) keeps foodstuff on the rooftop of their house to starve her and
their children. Mutiat, who spoke before Chief Ademola Odunade, the court’s
president, said her husband did not have any trust in her despite her struggle
to keep the family one.
The mother of two said her parents had on many
occasions begged Ganiyu to complement her effort but that he usually behaved
like a stranger to her. She said, “My lord, I wish to divorce him because my
husband is troublesome. He used to climb the rooftop of our house to keep food
there for us not to have access to it. We usually fight. He doesn’t trust me.
He doesn’t take care of me and my children.”
The husband, Ganiyu, who consented to the divorce suit
filed by Mutiat, said she was an ingrate. Ganiyu told the court that his
father-in-law and mother in-law insult him all the time and that they
instigated her to move her belongings out of his house. He further said his
wife’s co-workers beat him to stupor the day he visited her place of work to
appeal to her and that, “after beating me, they reported me at the Mapo Police
Station.” Chief Odunade held that the union between Mutiat and Ganiyu had been
irreparably dented and that dissolution was the only solution in order to avert
anarchy. He, therefore, dissolved the union and awarded custody of their child
to Mutiat and directed them to keep away from each other.”
However, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed who was formerly a
chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC); Chief of Staff to the former
Senate President Bukola Saraki and is currently the Director of Publicity,
Northern Elders Forum, intervened on the following day (December 9, 2020) with
a repost which adorned the front page of “Vanguard” newspaper: “THE BEST WAY TO
EAT AN ELEPHANT IN YOUR PATH IS TO CUT IT INTO SMALL PIECES” “The Nigerian
state failed to develop institutions and values that will mitigate the type of
circumstances which produced Biafra and the civil war. During its long tenures
in power, the military fought against itself, and discouraged the emergence of
a political system which could have mediated conflicts around power and
resources by the elite. At every turn, the state was challenged by problems it
created.
Between 1966 and 1999, the military was unable to stay
outside power for longer than four years, a brief period which significantly
highlighted the total re-integration of Igbo elite into the Nigerian political
process. The military factor in Nigerian political history has been prominent
and damaging, and hopefully, will come to an end with the expiration of
President Buhari’s presidency.
Every major political development since January 1966
has had a major military (and police!!) imprint, and no leadership has emerged
at the national and largely sub-national levels without the direct or discreet
influence of military actors. This legacy has stunted the growth and
development of democratic values and institutions, and has created multiple
sources of grievances and conflicts that give the impression of Nigeria as a
nation of multiple causes and few solutions.
The emergence of a political leadership without roots
or linkages with a military tradition will signify a major reconciliation in
the rupture which begun on January 15, 1966. The nation has survived many
Biafras in the past, and it needs to come to terms with these challenges in
their proper contexts. The resistance against the abortion of the elections
that may have produced an Abiola presidency; the resistance of the communities
in many parts of the South South against abuse and neglect; the resistance of
many communities across the entire nation against neglect, attacks, abuse and
marginalisation; the unacceptable levels of collapse of basic infrastructure in
the East; the scandalous de-industrialisation and pauperisation of the entire
north; the disaster arising from incompetence and official collusion in the
growth and development of Boko Haram insurgency; the unfolding, global-scale
humanitarian disaster in the North East are all Biafran causes.
In a real sense, every Nigerian is a Biafran.” On
December 9, 2020, “The Nation” newspaper devoted its front-page editorial to
extolling the superlative achievements of Sylvia Andrew who scored A1 in nine
subjects. However, there was no mention of any prospects of a career in the
police: The number one policeman/woman in Britain is Dame Cressida Dick who got
her first degree from the University of Oxford and her Masters in Criminology
from the University of Cambridge. She was appointed as the Commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), London in 2017.
On December 17, 2020, “The Punch” newspaper devoted its
front page to the police, with the bold headline: “POLICE TORTURED MY
CO-DETAINEE TO DEATH, WITNESS TELLS PANEL” “A witness, Abbah Onoja, told the
panel probing cases of police brutality in Abuja that a co-detainee, Obinna
Jonah, was tortured to death in police custody in Abuja on January 28, 2020.
Onoja was called to testify in the case of alleged extra-judicial killing which
was lodged before the panel by the deceased person’s brother, Okechukwu Jonah.
The witness recalled that he was arrested along with his friend, Chizoba
Samuel, at Anguwar Shehu, Karimo, Abuja on January 27, 2020. He said the arrest
took place at Samuel’s place, with the police accusing them of belonging to a
cult called, Supreme Vikings Confraternity. He said Obinna was later arrested
that same day, also on the allegation of being a cultist.
The witness noted that they were all detained at the
police Anti-One Chance Unit in Jabi, Abuja. According to him, the unit, headed
by DSP Jumbo Jumbo, later moved to Abattoir, a police facility being occupied
by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad and other tactical police units. He
said after being tortured by the police, Samuel confessed to belonging to the
cult, and implicated the deceased, Obinna, to be a member. He said Obinna, who
was later brought to join them, also admitted to being a member after he was
tortured. Onoja added, “They asked for his firearms, but he denied having any.
After much torture, it got to a point that he couldn’t talk anymore and started
foaming in the mouth.”
He said a total of 14 of them arrested for allegedly
being cultists, were later moved to the Abuja Police Command. He recalled that
Obinna could not talk despite being hit repeatedly by an officer with a baton.
The witness testified further that they were all moved from there to SARS
detention centre at Abattoir for further investigation. He said, “When we got
there, one Corporal Abubakar asked Jumbo Jumbo in pidgin English what should be
done with Obinna. Jumbo told him that he (Obinna) should be dropped. “He was
kept in a cell, but by the next morning, he was dead. The inmates were asked to
bring his corpse out. That was on January 28, 2020.” The witness said that
apart from Jumbo, others, including one Sergeant Gambo and one Sergeant Biggie,
were involved in the case. The Justice Suleiman Galadima-led panel adjourned
the matter till February 9, 2021 in order to enable the police defence team to
cross-examine the petitioner and the two witnesses.”
On the following day (December 18, 2020), “The
Guardian” newspaper’s front page report was another sad reminder of the problem
with the police Headline: “BARBER SEEKS N5 MILION DAMAGES FOR DETENTION,
TORTURE BY SARS” “Twenty-two-year-old Salmanu Umar, who appeared before the
judicial panel of inquiry on police brutality sitting in Jalingo, Taraba State,
yesterday, narrated how he was tortured in detention by the disbanded Special
Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the police.
As damages, he is demanding N5 million from the police
authorities. Claiming that he was tortured and detained for 41 days at the SARS
office in Jalingo over alleged indebtedness. He added that N140,000 was
forcefully collected from him by one Inspector Solomon Ochoni before he was
released on bail. More worrisome, according to him, was that his surety was
also compelled to sign an undertaking to pay N700,000.
The police squad had reportedly threatened to charge
him for armed robbery or kidnapping, if the N700,000 was not paid. Narrating
how his hands and legs were tethered while he was in custody, without food and
water, Umar, a barber in the state capital, urged the panel and SARS to refund
the N140,000 allegedly collected from him as bail, since “bail is free.” The
complainant’s father, Yakubu Umar, also told the panel that he (Yakubu) also
went through a lot of stress using his meagre resources to treat his son for
the injuries he sustained in SARS custody.
The complainant’s counsel, Adams Sanusi, urged the
panel to award N5 million to his client as compensation for detention without
trial. He also demanded the immediate refund of the N140,000 allegedly extorted
from the petitioner. While admitting that the petitioner was actually detained
for 41 days, the officer in charge of the disbanded SARS, Obomo Ubi, and
Ochoni, whom The Guardian learnt was the Investigative Police Officer (IPO),
denied that the petitioner was tortured. Ubi also said the inability of the
police to arraign the petitioner was due to the lockdown occasioned by the
outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
After listening to the presentations of counsel to both
the petitioner and the respondent, the Christopher Awubra-led panel adjourned
the case for consideration.” On December 19, 2020, it was the front page report
of “The Punch” newspaper that sent off shock waves which have gone viral.
Headline: “POLICE COLLEGE: 24 PEOPLE IN COURT FOR ALLEGED FORGERY,
IMPERSONATION” “The Nigerian police on Friday arraigned 24 people before
Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, for allegedly forging
their certificates while seeking employment into the Police College. While the
Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Adamu, is the complainant, S. Jonathan
and 23 others are 1st to 24 defendants respectively.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria, they pleaded
not guilty to the 106 counts bordering on forgery and impersonation. Some of
the charges filed by the prosecution counsel, Mathew Omosu, read in part, “You…
sometimes between 2018 to 2020 at the Nigeria Police College Borno, being bound
by law to state the truth, did swear on oath, and gave an information that is
false and as such committed an offense punishable by law.
“That you…on the same date and place, did assume the
name, designation of police officers, and thereby committed an offence
punishable by Section 42 of the Police Act…” After taking their plea, Omosu
prayed the court remanded the defendants in a correctional centre pending the
determination of the matter. However, Justice Ekwo asked the prosecution how
long the defendants had been in custody. The prosecution responded that they
had been in detention since July. Counsel to 1st to 8th defendants, Shittu
Dan-Shita, made an oral application for their bail. “in the interim, we have an
application for the bail of 1st to 8th defendants,” he said. The judge, who
noted that the court would commence its vacation on December 22, asked the
lawyer to file a formal application, assuring that he could hear the motion
even if the court began its vacation.
Ekwo adjourned the trial until January 25, January 26
and January 27 next year for trial continuation and ordered that the defendants
be remanded, pending the next hearing. “They will be remanded but on the
condition that they be given medical attention,” he said. Speaking with
journalists shortly after the proceeding, Dan-Shita said he would file the bail
application on time in a bid to get the defendants released. “My Lord is
disposed to come out of his vacation to even hear the application for bail.
The prosecution filed 106 count charges against 24
defendants and as you can see, all of them pleaded not guilty,” he said. The
NAN noted that while Saidu Jubril represented 9th to 16th defendants, Adam
Ugwanyi was the counsel to 17th to 24th defendants and the National Human
Rights Commission was represented by Mariam Kadril.” On its front page, the
preview of the December 2020 edition of “The Will” newspaper which is yet to
hit the newsstands carried in big bold headlines:
“NORTH AND THE POLITICS OF INSECURITY” “The North,
comprising four of the six-geopolitical zones of the Nigeria’s political
structure with a sizeable number of 19 states, appears to have woken up to the
dire insecurity in the region with the warning by the Sultan of Sokoto,
Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar III, that things have gone out of control. Speaking at
the fourth quarterly meeting of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council on Thursday,
November 26 in Abuja, the Nigerian capital, Sultan Abubakar III, said that the
security system in the region has completely collapsed and lamented the high
rate of insecurity, which has made the North the ‘worst place’ in the country
to live in. According to the Sultan, who is the spiritual head of millions of
Nigeria’s Muslims; “The security situation in Northern Nigeria has assumed a
worrisome situation.
A few weeks ago, over 76 persons were killed in a
community in Sokoto in a day. I was there with the governor to commiserate with
the affected community. Unfortunately, you don’t hear these stories in the
media because it’s in the North. We have accepted the fact that the North does
not have strong media to report the atrocities of these bandits. People think
the North is safe but that assumption is not true. In fact, it’s the worst
place to be in this country because bandits go around in the villages,
households, and markets with their AK 47 and nobody is challenging them.
They stop at the market, buy things, pay and collect
change, with their weapons openly displayed. These are facts, I know because I
am at the centre of it. I am not only a traditional ruler, I am also a
religious leader. So, I am in a better place to tell the story. I can speak for
the North in this regard because I am fully aware of the security challenges
there.” On the Zabarmari incident, the Sultan- led JNI on Wednesday, Dec 2,
reportedly called “on the Federal Government to rise up to its responsibility
and do well beyond the traditional condemnation, as lip service on security
matter should stop…”
The Sultan had been railing against the state of
insecurity in the north, except that his recent statement gained much traction
by the Saturday, November 28 murder of 67 farmers, according to a Senate
independent investigation, at Zabarmari village in Jere Local Government of
Borno State. By July 2020, the Jama’ atu Nasril Islam, led by Sultan Abubakar,
had credited the destructive violence and insecurity ravaging the country, especially
the north, to the inefficiency of the country’s security architecture. This was
followed by the Arewa Consultative Forum’s condemnation of the arrest of some
youths of Arewa Youths Organisation, for protesting against the spate of
killings in the north with a call on President Buhari to sack the service
chiefs. But the recent statement by the Sultan has really triggered a wave of
support and critical comments from groups in the region. The Coalition of
Northern Elders for Peace and Development, CONEPD, applauded the Sultan for his
courage to speak up on the worsening security situation in the northern part of
the country.
In a statement, the group’s National Coordinator, Zana
Goni and National Women Leader, Hajia Mario Bichi, urged President Buhari to
heed the clamour for a reorganisation of the security architecture and
appointment of younger officers with new set of ideas to change the situation. Besides
commending the Sultan, the Northern Elders Forum led by Professor Ango
Abdullahi, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign, because, according
to them, “he has failed in carrying out the chief function of a central
government, which is to secure and protect the territorial integrity, lives and
property of the citizenry of Nigerians.” It is not true that the North is
totally free of these SARS excesses. I (A. Esele) was personally involved in
the case of a young man called Gaddafi who was shot and killed in Kano in front
of his family home by SARS operatives. He was not armed and he did not commit
any crime.” “The Will was not done yet. It devoted its middle page to the
headline: “#EndSARS: UNSTOPPABLE OC AKWUZU” “There are good and bad cops. Some
good ones become bad in the line of duty and are, sometimes, consumed in their
badness. DSP George Iyamu is one infamous example of a good police
officer-turned-bad that a certain generation of Nigerians now only dimly
remember. He, it was, who connived with the still infamous Lawrence Anini
robbery gang in the mid-nineteen eighties such that their reign of terror
topped the agenda during two or so meetings of the Armed Forces Ruling Council
headed by military president Ibrahim Babangida. In one such cabinet meeting at
State House Dodan Barracks, Obalende in Lagos, IBB was said to have turned to
Inspector General of Police, Etim Inyang, and famously asked him: “My friend,
where is Lawrence Anini?” Unmasked eventually, convicted and condemned to death
as an officer on the take from robbers he sold guns for operations and tipped
off criminals before police raids.
Iyamu went to the stakes and was shot along with more
than a dozen members of Anini’s gang by firing squad on Valentine’s Day in
1987. Today in Nigeria, as a result of the ENDSARS youth uprising from early to
midOctober, the picture of formerly good cop-turned-bad is gradually emerging.
And that portrait is of none other than CSP James Nwafor, former OC Special
AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) Akwuzu in Anambra state. It is a damning portrait.
More than a dozen families of victims of police brutality have stepped forward
before the Anambra State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Police Brutality,
Extra-Judicial Killings and Other Related Matters presided over by Hon. Justice
Veronica Umeh to back up their petitions with testimonies. According to Comrade
Abdul Mahmud, human rights campaigner and lawyer present at the sitting, more
than ninety percent of the 18 petitions so far are about the former police
officer whose whereabouts is unknown. Let’s consider some of them. Chijioke
Iloanya was home in Ajali community in Anambra state when he told his mother he
was going to a friend’s child dedication sometime in November 2012. She
implored her son not to. He wouldn’t listen and so proceeded to the venue of
the child dedication. They were still there when some officers from Ajali
Police Station stormed and arrested everyone present including Chijioke and
transferred them to SARS Akwuzu. Testifying to the panel, Chijioke’s sister,
Ms. Iloanya said inter alia: “the last time any member of the family saw
Chijioke was the day my parents went to SARS office in Awkuzu. Our mum saw her
son in their premises, (but) the officer in charge, James Nwafor, denied he was
there. Some officers said he was bluffing and told my parents he wanted them to
bring money.” Of course, the Iloanyas could not afford the money requested by
Nwafor. On the next visit, according to Chijioke’s sister, “Mr. Nwafor told my
parents that he had killed my brother; he looked my father in the face and told
my dad he could do nothing.” Ms. Iloanya had just turned 17.
Okwuchukwu Onyemele was a graduate of Architecture when
his path crossed with Nwafor’s not in any criminal hideout but right in front
of his father’s house. The architect was with his sister when Nwafor along with
other SARS operatives stormed their father’s residence in Ontisha and arrested
him in June 2014. Okwuchukwu was beaten and detained without access to his
family or lawyer. “While Okwuchukwu was in detention,” the petitioner said,
“members of his family kept visiting SARS Awkuzu with the hope of seeing him.
They were prevented by CSP James Nwafor from seeing him.” It was after several
visits spanning years that “Mr Nwafor told Mr Onyemulue’s father that he killed
his son.” Another petitioner, a school proprietor, Emma Adimachukwu, told the
hearing how Nwafor as Commander of SARS Akwuzu demanded for N400, 000 to feed
his son, Obinna, a businessman, in their custody in 2014. After graduating from
Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka where Obinna read Business Admin, his father
(the petitioner) opened a shop for him at Mount Olive Plaza in Onitsha. In
Adimachukwu’s words, Obinna “travelled to India to buy clothes. On March 14,
2014, he went to Nnewi and collected $10,000 owed him by a friend and proceeded
to Onitsha to take delivery of his goods that just arrived.” Postscript:
“Sobbing Father” “My son refused to let them (the police) take the money. He
fought them. So when they got to Akwuzu SARS, they killed him. When I went to
see him after his friend who was smuggled out told me about it, James Nwafor
(SARS boss) told his men to lock me up that I was a father to an armed robber.”
On December 20, 2020, “The Sunday Sun” newspaper
adorned its front page with the chilling headline: “INSIDE STORY OF POLICE
MASSACRE OF SIX IN PORT HARCOURT” • Victims’ relations demand justice. “Daredevil
trigger-happy officers of the Nigeria police on December 10, 2020 caused havoc
in Port Harcourt, Rivers State as they shot dead six young men and left many
others with bullet wounds. The police in a statement shortly after the gruesome
massacre claimed that only one person was killed, but after the dust raised as
a result of the shooting settled, five persons were confirmed dead. Trouble
started when a team of policemen with a hilux van stopped a tricycle (Keke
Napep) operator whose name was given as Chukwuma Nnolim, a native of Imo State,
popularly called Schoolboy and demanded for N100 at Elikpokwu Odu road,
Rukpokwu in Obio/Akpo Local Government Area of Rivers State.
An eye-witness who does not want to be named said that
the policemen stopped Schoolboy and demanded for N100 tip (Roger), but
Schoolboy was said to have pleaded with them to exercise patience as he had just
resumed work, but the men were said to be in no mode to listen to pleas or
reason with him and insisted that he must pay, but Schoolboy was said to have
maintained his grounds. According to the eye-witness, one of the policemen at
this point lost his cool and became highly infuriated. He was said to have
pulled out his gun, pointed it at Schoolboy on the throat and shot him at close
range Schoolboy died on the spot. Findings showed that the senseless killing
triggered a protest as other Keke operators who saw what happened carried the
dead body of Schoolboy to Rumuokoro police station where the assailant came
from. At Rumuokoro police station, a rowdy confrontation ensued as the angry
Keke operators were said to have smashed the windscreens of some cars parked at
the station, and the Rumuokoro police were said to have successfully dispersed
the angry protesters without casualties. But other eye-witnesses said that when
the protesters left the police station, some other trigger-happy policemen went
on rampage and began to spray live bullets on innocent traders at Omachi
junction, a make-shift market arranged by traders after the Rumuokoro market
shutdown.”
As confirmation that the troubles of the police are not
limited to Nigeria, “Daily Trust” newspaper of December 17, 2020 devoted the
bottom half of its front page to the report with the headline: “SOMALIA’S
OPPOSITION URGES TURKEY NOT TO SEND ARMS TO POLICE.” “Somalia's opposition says
it has written to Turkey urging it not to send a planned shipment of weapons to
a special police unit that they fear incumbent President Mohamed Abdullahi
Mohamed could use to "hijack" forthcoming elections. Political
tensions have been high in the Horn of Africa country, stoked by opposition
anger over a delay in holding the elections for both chambers of parliament.
The polls were initially planned for this month but that plan was scrapped
following disagreements over the composition of the electoral board. On
Tuesday, opposition supporters marched in the capital Mogadishu denouncing the
president for the delay. In the letter addressed to Turkey's ambassador in
Somalia and seen by Reuters, opposition candidates said they had learned Turkey
was planning to deliver 1,000 G3 assault rifles and 150,000 bullets to
Harma'ad, a special unit in Somalia's police, between Dec. 16 and Dec. 18.
Abdirahman Abdishakur Warsame, chairman of the Wadajir (unity) party and one of
the candidates who jointly wrote the letter, confirmed its authenticity to
Reuters. The candidates, the letter said, are "worried about this amount
of weapons and ammunition flooding the country at this sensitive election time.
The president has already used the Harma'ad forces for coercion and rigging of
regional elections, and so there is no doubt the same Harma'ad forces and the
weapons from Turkey will be used to hijack the upcoming elections," it
said. As demonstration / illustration of the “Vote of No Confidence” in the
police, “Daily Trust” newspaper of December 17, 2020 carried on the top half of
its front page the following headline: “2 ROBBERY SUSPECTS SET ABLAZE IN
IBADAN.” “Irate youths in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, yesterday set ablaze
two suspected robbers at the State Government Secretariat. An eyewitness told
Daily Trust that while one was burnt alive, the other was knocked down by a
moving vehicle. Our correspondent gathered that one of the two suspects, having
failed in their mission to snatch a car, attempted to run away. But he was hit
by another car on motion and reportedly died on the spot. The second suspect,
it was learnt, was nabbed alive before the duo was set ablaze. The state’s
Police Public Relations Officer, Olugbenga Fadeyi, confirmed the incident. He
said one Adebayo Tobi, a 27-year-old man of Plot 4, Owode Apata, Ibadan was
robbed at Favours Area, Awolowo, Bodija, of his Vivo 400 Android phone and a
bag containing some papers by two Okada robbers. “Sequel to this, he
immediately pursued them with his Toyota Corolla car with Registration Number
(Lagos) KRD 573 CH, along Dandaru Road (Parliament Road). But the hoodlums
suddenly entered into a pothole opposite INEC office and lost control of the
bike. They fell off. One of them died instantly, while the other sustained
varying degrees of injury. “On the receipt of the information, the Divisional
Police Officer (DPO), Agodi moved swiftly to the scene. But before his arrival,
the injured robber had been set ablaze by the angry mob, numbering up to over
200”. He said investigation into the incident has commenced.” It was left to
“The Guardian” newspaper of December 16, 2020 to devote its front page to
fatigue (and the police connection): Headline: “WE’RE TIRED OF ADVISING BUHARI
ON SECURITY (AND POLICE), SAYS AREWA CONSULTATIVE FORUM.” “Rising from its
Board of Trustees (BOT) meeting yesterday, the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF)
said it is tired of advising President Muhammadu Buhari on security matters
because the government appears not to be serious in taking proactive measures
to end the ugly situation. Speaking to journalists shortly after the meeting,
the National Publicity Secretary of ACF, Emmanuel Yawe, lamented that the
Federal Government had failed to heed its advice on how to tackle insecurity in
the country, thereby leaving citizens at the mercy of bandits. Yawe charged the
nation’s leaders to tell Nigerians what would happen if their own children were
kidnapped too.
He, however, added that massive employment of youths by
governments at all levels would reduce the crime rate and check the rising
insecurity across the country. “Today’s (Tuesday) meeting is very crucial to
the operations of ACF because it is the first meeting of the newly-constituted
Board of Trustees. We discussed security, and we are worried because Nigerians
are not secure. We are not happy about insecurity in the country. We are
looking at the immediate and long term ways of improving security. It has been
in the news that over 300 students were kidnapped and taken away in Katsina,
and the government is saying they are negotiating with the kidnappers to free
the students. These are some of the things that are very distressful and
disturbing to all members of ACF,” he said. The ACF spokesperson disclosed that
the forum had called on government severally and kept on saying that they were
not going to allow banditry to take over the country. “Bandits went to the
school, packed students on bikes and took them to the forest. Whatever is
happening to them in the forest, nobody knows. The situation is very
distressful. Our leaders should tell us what would happen if their children
were among those kidnapped. ACF complained about this insecurity in its October
meeting, and nothing was done. We are in December with the same complaint, and
nothing is being done.” Somehow, “Daily Trust” newspaper of December 17, 2020
squeezed out space to accommodate the front page headline on the police:
“SULTAN SA’AD’s VISIT TO BORNO” “Thank God Almighty who made it possible for
the Sultan of Sokoto to visit Borno State for the first time since the start of
the Boko Haram insurgency to condole with the Governor and the Shehu of Borno.
The Sultan’s visit indicated that maybe the northern traditional leaders are
waking up from the long slumbers they have been in.
Since the beginning of the insurgency, one would have
expected all stakeholders in the north in particular and Nigeria in general to
have brainstormed many times to find a lasting solution to the insecurity
bedeviling the region. I thought those who are in high places whose children
are schooling abroad really paid little or no attention to the problems they
thought is affecting only the old Borno. I was proved wrong as they are not
also worried about the ongoing insecurity in the North West, the seat of the
Caliphate. Anybody who thinks seriously about the insecurity bedeviling the north
ought to know that the Nigerian security agencies don’t have enough equipment
and men to occupy the entire areas where the terrorists are operating. The job
of the military is to retake the land occupied by the terrorists, which they
did perfectly, but then to whom should they handover? The Nigerian Police Force
is undermanned, under-equipped, undertrained. Given our size and population, we
ought to have more than a million uniformed policemen and about half a million
informants. Security cannot be the way our country is being run. “- Dr. Saidu
Samaila Msheliza. According to the front page of “The Punch” newspaper of
December 16, 2020, the police decided to pull the revenge trigger. Headline:
“POLICE ARREST DELTA MAN WHOSE VIDEO LED TO #EndSARS” “The Delta State Police
command has re-arrested Nicholas Makolomi, who allegedly made video of SARS
shooting a boy in Ugheli, Delta State, which led to the #EndSARS protests
across the country. Makolomi’s counsel, Ekenemolise Osifo, raised the alarm on
Tuesday in Asaba, noting that Federal High Court had ruled against Makolomi’s
initial arrest and detention. Osifo described his re-arrest as a gross
violation of the rule of law. He said, “Prince Nicholas Makolomi actually
recorded an injustice being perpetuated and like what every right thinking
Nigerian citizen would do, uploaded it to bring police brutality to the
attention of the public.
Considering the present insecurities and lawlessness in
the country, the baseless and unjustified act by the police to cover their
inefficiency is an unnecessary distraction and mediocre (vindictiveness)
instead of facing the actual issue and truth. It is totally disgraceful and
unwarranted. “What aggravated the police to the re-arrest him was the fact that
Makolomi brought the attention of the police to another act of unlawful
extortion conducted by one SP Sunday Nwaja who requested for N500,000 to grant
him soft landing. “To cover up for their lack of discipline to investigate the
extortion issue, the police cunningly withdrew the pending matter from the
court and re-arrested him. We want his unconditional release and the stoppage
of further harassment of Prince Nicholas Makolomi . The police should respect
the decision of the Federal High Court ruling in Asaba on November 24, 2020,
which declared his earlier arrest and detention illegal.” Osifo said the victim
had been taken to an undisclosed location and not allowed access to his
medication being a chronic ulcer and asthmatic patient. Efforts made by our
correspondent to reach the Commissioner of Police in the state, Hafiz Inuwa
failed as calls put across to his cell phone were not picked. But the state
Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Onome Onovwakpoyeya, said, “That’s what I
heard, but I’m not aware. As I speak to you now, I’m in Enugu for PPRO (Police
Public Relations Officers) workshop.” However, the last word belongs to the
headline: “ENUGU Ex-FINANCE COMMISSIONER BROUGHT SARS WHO SHOT MY SON.” “A
woman, Mrs Angela Ozioko, on Tuesday told the Enugu State Police Brutality and
Extra-judicial Killings Panel how ex-state Commissioner of Finance, Goddy
Nnadi, brought men of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad and shot her
son, Emeka Ozioko, during a church ceremony and took away his body since
December 4, 2011. Ozioko told the panel that she had been crying for the past
nine years over the disappearance of her son. She said she visited many police
stations and SARS offices to look for her son, adding that none of the police
formations had any record of her son’s arrest. She urged the panel to unravel
the mystery behind Emeka’s disappearance, adding that if he has been killed,
those involved should be held to account. She said “ Emeka Ozioko was shot on
December 4, 2011, around 3:30pm at Ohum Orba in the Udenu Local Government by
operatives of the disbanded SARS, who took him away. Since then I have not seen
him and none of police formation accepted that they know anything about his
case. We went to the State Criminal Investigation Department, Enugu; we went to
the office of the disbanded SARS; we went to Udenu Police Division and all of
them preventeded us from entering their premises. They said they did not have
any case like that in their stations. The day my son was shot was a big day in
Ohum Orba because the indigenes of Orba who were appointed to different
positions in the state by the then governor were celebrated. Only one Mass was
celebrated at Patrick’s Catholic Church, Ohum Orba.” She said although she was
not at the church service, her son and her husband were at the mass, before
Emeka was called out on the telephone, shot and taken away by SARS men brought
by Nnadi, who was among those being recognised. “Around 7pm, my elder son
called from where he was staying and told me that Emeka’s mobile phone was
switched off. He told me to make enquires because people called him that the SARS men shot Emeka. We
made enquiries and one man told my husband that my son was shot. Three days
later, they brought youths that were also arrested to court. They called their
names but my son’s name wasn’t in the charge sheet and his name was not
mentioned among those that were at large. I want to know whether my son who was
shot in the presence of many people and taken away for nine years committed any
offence by coming to the celebration his community organised for its sons. In
2017, after those that were arrested at that ceremony were released by the
state government, we petitioned the Inspector-General of Police. Some policemen
came from Abuja, took our statement and went back to Abuja. They invited him
(Nnadi) to Abuja and afterwards our lawyer stopped answering our calls.”
Similarly, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in Edo State, Dr Johnson
Erimafa, asked the Edo panel to compel the police to pay him N1bn for the
killing of his son a by a cop in 2003. Erimafa, a retired Mathematics lecturer
at the Ambrose Alli University, told the panel that his son, Paul Erimafa,18,
was murdered by a trigger-happy police sergeant, Kalijaye, when he was on his
way to watch the Big Brother Africa in a cyber cafe close to his house. “The
police abducted him at 8.30pm until 3am when they shot him dead in the front of
the house of the then Justice Constance Momoh. They said he was a suspect. He
was alone, he had no knife or gun but they killed him in the presence of the
security details of the then Chief Justice I learnt that the boy struggled with
him and raised the alarm which drew the attention of the security details that
were at the CJ’s house. As my son started talking to the security details, Kalijaye,
shot his legs.
The policeman went to invite other members of his
patrol team. He killed him when he came back with his team and found out that
he was still alive.” He said though no amount of money could compensate for the
loss of his son, which eventually led to his wife divorcing him, the panel
should order the government to pay him N1bn.”
-
Bashorun
J.K. Randle is a former President of the Institute of the Chartered Accountants
of Nigeria (ICAN) and former Chairman of KPMG Nigeria and Africa Region. He is
currently the Chairman, J.K. Randle Professional Services
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