The fatal May 26, 2025, attack on CSP Ali Baba, the Divisional Police Officer in Rano, Kano State, adds to the gory list of assaults on personnel of the Nigeria Police Force. Importantly, the incident portrays a stark reminder of the 2020 nationwide EndSARS protest, the aftermath of which caused the violent killings of dozens of policemen and the destruction of several police stations.

The killing of Baba means that the police have not taken all the lessons presented by EndSARS, particularly on the necessity of preventing the killing of policemen whose primary duty is to protect lives and property; and ensure peace and order in the society. In other climes, the police do not rest until they apprehend the criminal killers of their own. Nigeria should not be different. When policemen are not safe, the rest of Nigerians are patently unsafe.
 
On Saturday, October 19, 2024, in Lagos State, ASP Augustine Osupayi was killed while trying to prevent the execution of jungle justice. Also, a 2024 report disclosed that at least 229 officers lost their lives between January 2023 and October 2024, in attacks by bandits, Boko Haram insurgents, armed robbers and other criminals.

While aggression towards law enforcers is not uncommon globally, the frequency and the spontaneity with which they occur in Nigeria make them pointers to the maladies ravaging the society. Like the proverbial “stitch in time,” an appraisal of why these happen and what must be done to prevent them is a collective assignment of urgent national significance. When officers with a constitutional mandate to safeguard the citizenry are set upon by the very public they are employed to protect, an unpleasant future looms where there might be no stitch left to save the nine.
   
Earlier in the day, a motorcyclist suspected of being under the influence of psychoactive substances was arrested. While in custody, he reportedly exhibited symptoms indicative of a lack of wellness; and was rushed to the Rano General Hospital, where he subsequently passed away. As news of the motorcyclist’s death spread, angry miscreants mobilised and stormed the Rano Police Division, embarking on a destructive spree and setting property on fire. In the ensuing violence, CSP Baba was brutalised and taken to the hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. Ordinarily, the death of the suspect should not have warranted such mob action. That this occurred highlights a society teetering on the brink of dysfunctionality. 
 
To overlook the remote trigger of the Rano tragedy — substance abuse and its consequences for society — is to undertake a wild goose chase. In 2021, the Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, Buba Marwa, raised the alarm about the pervasiveness of the menace, when he declared: “In Kano State, drug abuse prevalence is 16 per cent; that is, in every six persons, one is a drug addict, and they are between the ages of 15 and 64 years. Kano has close to two million drug users abusing tramadol, codeine and other cough syrups.”

Given the link between illicit drug use and crime, these statistics reveal that the North’s commercial nerve centre is precariously perched on a powder keg of social disturbances. It may never be known how many of the scoundrels who attacked the police station were part of the troubling figures Marwa disclosed. We may also never be able to tell how many more drug-inflamed youths lurk in the shadows, waiting to jump on the next upheaval.  
 
Following decades of episodes tainted with allegations of corruption, collusion in crime, and extrajudicial killings, mistrust between the police and the public seems to have reached unprecedented levels. Presumably, the assailants at the Rano Division had never heard the slogan: “Police is your friend.” Even if they had, they likely did not believe it. Otherwise, they might have approached the matter differently. They tragically found the police’s account of events too implausible to digest. It is equally unlikely they harboured any respect for the courts, traditional leadership, or elected officials. These attackers epitomise a new and terrifying generation of Nigerians who have lost faith in legal processes for redress and align with the nation’s rising number of unknown gunmen.
 
The violent outburst is symptomatic of a society where sections of the population harbour deep feelings of marginalisation and suppressed anger, estranged from socio-economic opportunities. Figures from the United Nations Children’s Fund show that 32 per cent of primary school-going-age children are out of school in Kano. Approximately 10.2 million primary school-aged children in Nigeria are currently out of school, with 16 per cent residing in Kano, Jigawa, and Katsina states. Kano alone accounts for nearly one million out-of-school children (989,234). Recently, Dr Ibrahim Garba Mohammed, Special Adviser to Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf on Human Resources, noted that despite the proliferation of private industries in Kano, over 20 million indigenes are poorly represented in employment. He admitted that “opportunities will reduce insecurity, curb criminal tendencies, and ensure a peaceful atmosphere.”
 
Nonetheless, there can be no justification for snuffing out the life of a promising officer while performing his lawful duties; hence, the wave of condemnation that followed the killing. The police deserve commendation for containing a situation that could have escalated into a larger crisis. The arrest of dozens of suspects is welcome. There must be diligent prosecution and a reinforcement of the precedent that cop killers and destroyers of public property will have a date with justice. Authorities must also offer compassion and support to the deceased’s family. 
 
To forestall recurrence, the Rano incident calls for a comprehensive investigation and review of police methods for handling arrests, managing public grievances, and preventing civil unrest. Measures to ensure the safety of officers in what is expected to be their stronghold must also be re-evaluated. The attack differs significantly from the 2024 assault on a police station in northwestern Pakistan carried out by dozens of well-armed militants aided by sniper fire and explosives. That local miscreants and street urchins could wield capabilities for taking down a police station and murdering its most senior officer demands an urgent reassessment of security mechanisms.  
 
Slaying law enforcement agents is not representative of Nigerians as a people, regardless of the many challenges and pains ordinary citizens face, or the government’s failure. It is a brutish decline into an abyss that portends no good for our collective existence. It must, therefore, be condemned by all. Will a similar tragedy ever be repeated in our history pages? Would it be less savage, equally grim, or worse? That depends on what lessons all stakeholders have learned and whether deliberate efforts are implemented to safeguard against such calamities. As the nation mourns CSP Baba, it must seize this sombre opportunity for introspection and action.