Need for accountability in army, police deployments

About two weeks before the killing of 17 soldiers reported to be on a peace mission to the restive communities of Okuama and Okoloba, in Ughelli South and Bomadi councils of Delta State, not less than 15 policemen had been reported missing at another location nearby.

The 15 police officers were reported to be on a rescue mission to Agadama, Uwheru community of Ughelli North, in search of their three colleagues, mobile police officers, who were earlier drafted from Oghara, to Ohoror axis of the East-West Road, to contain criminality around the flashpoint.

The Delta State Police Command sketchily confirmed that, “a team of police officers from the Intelligence and Response Squad, Abuja, in collaboration with PMF 51 Oghara, and Anti-kidnapping Squad from the State Police Command, Asaba, had gone to Agadama in Uwheru community in search of the three officers that were declared missing. The combined team came under heavy gun fire with suspected Fulani herdsmen and three of our men and three other personnel from PMF 51, whose details we cannot provide got missing during the encounter.”

Another account claimed that the 15 police officers were ambushed by suspected Fulani herdsmen while on a rescue mission of abducted persons in a forest at Bentsiga Buplesi community in Ughelli area. In this second account, there are no clear numbers of those killed, even as unofficial sources claimed nine officers died in the ambush.

This account said 20 detectives went on the rescue mission after they used technology to locate the criminals’ hide out. Only for the same technology to fail them when they lost communication with telcos. Two were said to have managed to send SMS to their boss, asking for reinforcement and explaining their predicament.

The point is that the stories regarding the slain police officers in Ughelli North, Delta State, are disjointed and lacking in accountability. While it took the military no time to account for the loss and put names and faces to the slain soldiers in the Okuama expedition, the police are yet to give full details of their dead and missing officers in Ughelli North.

It goes to show how miserly the Nigerian society has become when it comes to putting value on human life, especially of serving officers who are put in harm’s way on behalf of Nigeria. While there is debate that there aren’t enough boots on the ground to combat bourgeoning insecurity, the ones that are available are not strategically and accountably deployed to achieve efficiency, with their safety also being of priority.

It should not take three weeks to identify missing officers and put the minds of family members at rest. The confirmation offered by the Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, made available in a press statement on Saturday, March 23, 2024, is not only belated but not in tandem with stories carried by news reporters on ground in Delta State, when the incident just occurred.

Some colleagues of the missing officers had expressed frustration at what they described as the deafening silence from the authorities, as if police lives don’t matter. Now that the confirmation has been provided, with six officers dead, that has not rested anxiety over the six that are still missing. Are they dead or alive three weeks after?

Just like the mystery mishap in Okuama, it’s tough to explain how a team of detectives and Intelligence officers could be easily overwhelmed by what was reported to be ragtag Fulani herders’ militia. These two deadly incidents deserve thorough and independent investigations.

Irrespective of the details and while we await unblemished investigations, the loss of 17 officers and men of the Nigerian Army plus six or more police officers in a contiguous space within the same stretch of time could be a wakeup call for the services to retool their deployment procedures, particularly for volatile regions such as the oil-rich Niger Delta.

Even in routine deployment of police officers for regular civic assignments and escort duties, it’s high time the police prioritised the life of officers over pecuniary and cheap political considerations.

There is a trend of incidents whereby officers attached to politicians and society’s big men have been killed in gun attacks while the politicians and so-called VIPs escape unhurt in bulletproof vehicles. The grim implication is that officers are dispensable because more officers are quickly assigned to the politicians and the widows of slain officers awarded pitiable sums to live on. A few examples should drive the message.

In an attack by gunmen on a former Governor of Imo State, Ikedi Ohakim, in Oriagu, Ehime Manao Local Government Area of Imo State last year, four police escorts were killed but the main target of the attack survived. The politician was said to be with two of his children as they returned from a visit, apparently a private one.

In June 2023, a police officer attached to the convoy of former Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha, was shot dead by gunmen in Ihube community, along Okigwe-Enugu Expressway. The former governor told newsmen he was on his way from a burial ceremony when he was attacked.

In September 2022, three police escorts in the convoy of Anambra South Senator, Ifeanyi Uba, were killed in an attack at Enugwu-Ukwu in Njikoka Council Area of Anambra State. According to reports, the convoy came under heavy fire after an ambush. The senator managed to escape in his well-fortified vehicle.

Again, in December 2023, Chris Uba, famed leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in Anambra State, escaped when gunmen attacked his convoy at Uga junction in the state. The police confirmed it lost two men in that attack. Uba is alive to give the testimony.

In November 2023, one policeman was killed when the convoy of Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, was attacked by terrorists along the Maiduguri-Damaturu Road. The governor was reported not to be in the convoy.

In May 2023, four mobile police escorts were murdered in an attack on the U.S. Consulate team when their convoy was ambushed along Atani-Osamala Road in Ogbaru Council Area of Anambra State. Three Consulate workers were also killed in the attack.

In December 2023, a convoy of Daewoo E&C Nigeria Limited workers was attacked in an ambush around Ahoada axis of the East-West Road; four soldiers and two drivers of the company were killed.

In October 2022, three police officers were killed when gunmen attacked the convoy of popular preacher, Apostle Johnson Suleiman, around Warake-Auchi axis, on his way from Benin. Four civilians were also killed in that encounter. The man of God survived the attack.

The list of tragic encounters involving police escorts is long and there may be no end to it because the police don’t put premium on their own. Every IGP had promised to ban indiscriminate use of police officers as escorts and orderlies to politicians and VIPs. That’s where the showmanship ends. It even gets more disgraceful when police begin to carry bags for wives of councilors and lawmakers.

Somewhere in Edo State this year, a former lawmaker was said to be in a convoy with four policemen. Unfortunately, and in the usual reckless manner of convoys, where other road users don’t matter, they got involved in a fatal accident. A life was lost and youths of the community demanded accountability. They pounced on the convoy and killed two policemen. Others managed to escape.

Taxpayers fund the police and it is incumbent on managers to place accountability above poor discretion. Most times, there is no accountability at all as officers are hired for illegal activities by politicians, just to show off and to oppress the opposition. This nonsense must stop if we determine to accord our security personnel the respect and safety they deserve.

There are no details of special insurance policy that is in place to compensate families of officers who are murdered in their bid to protect VIPs. The police should provide the details as well as revenue they generate from servicing private individuals.

A few days ago, the IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, gave cheques amounting to N1.5 billion insurance benefit to 727 widows, kith and next-of kins of policemen who died in the line of duty. One family got N1, 200, 000. One exaggerated report claimed that it was a whopping sum, but let Nigerians please do the arithmetic and let’s debate if that sum is whopping enough to exchange for the life of a policeman who died chasing kidnappers at some Ughelli forest.

As regards military and police deployments in the oil-rich Niger Delta, let’s be reminded that the South-south is a highly charged and ‘civilised’ zone. So, it’s incumbent on the authorities to tread with caution and to uphold professionalism as their foremost guiding principle, along with neutrality and unblemished service to the fatherland.

We’re told that officers lobby to get posted to the Niger Delta because there are tales of filthy lucre to be scooped. Some postings are not known to military and police headquarters.

That has been the Nigerian tragedy, but going forward, that cannot enhance the Renewed Hope Agenda this government professes. So, let the body language begin to change from the topmost levels.

The Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) proposes a situation where host communities are treated decently as owners of the land and custodians of the resources. The Act desires to sanitise the oil and gas ecosystem, such that rent-seeking and prebendalism become things of the past.

That will not happen unless President Bola Tinubu allows the law to operate in full. The law doesn’t permit him to appropriate to himself the portfolio of petroleum minister.

Sanity and safety for all in the Niger Delta is dependent on strict observance of the Rule of Law!