Presidential monologue – Part 40

Hello Mr President. My subject today is the Nigeria Police Force. I address a few discontents in how men of this state institution are carrying on. Recall that in 2020, the youth of this country rose against police brutality underlined by extra-judicial killings and extortion of innocent Nigerian citizens. The dust raised by the #EndSars protest has yet to settle. But the police have reverted to their old ways.

Extortion and harassment of innocent citizens have gone beyond endurable limits. In Lagos, private and commercial vehicles are stopped whimsically, and passengers are asked to come down, particularly youth, who are then subjected to body searches, and their phones are simultaneously searched with a focus on their account balances.

Those with reasonable balances are harassed into remitting money to their preferred account. This is the new trend, largely the same across major cities in the country. While the old SARs formation was disbanded for the 2020 protest, they have now reincarnated in form too ugly.

A few years after the 2020 protest, I was in a commercial en route to Ibadan. The vehicle was stopped by policemen manning the checkpoint by Obadore Bridge, along Isheri-LASU road, a young man travelling in the same vehicle with us was asked to come out of the car. He was accused of being a “Yahoo practitioner” and subsequently taken to a makeshift hut by the bridge.

After a search through his phone, he was forced to remit to them some amount of money before regaining his freedom. Other passengers, including this writer, were kept waiting in the vehicle for over half an hour. The same practice has continued at that location to this day.

Another notorious location is the Custom checkpoint at Agbara Bridge, along Badagry Expressway where men of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the police harass young men and women with inhuman appetite.

Also, recently, my friend’s son, aged 18, was sent on an errand and was caught in the same loop. This was around 5 pm on the fateful day. He was expected back home at about 6 pm. But he did not return home on time and the parents could not understand the reason for the delay. So they called his number and there was no response.

After agonising three hours pondering over what would have happened to their lad, the call to the phone eventually went through.  He narrated how some policemen in a mini-bus known as Korope stopped the bike he rode, searched him, and spent time vetting his handset but could not find anything incriminating. After delaying both him and the bike rider for a while, the bike rider was let off while the young man was commandeered into the waiting bus where he met other victims.

They patrolled with him for about two hours and with threats that they should bail themselves, or be taken to the station. He told them repeatedly that he was an undergraduate and did not have money for bail and that his father, a pastor, did not have money either for such an unbudgeted incidental. He was then let off the hook.

Currently, the media is agog with the case of some policemen accused of extorting some youth corps members in the Surulere area of Lagos. This case involving four policemen and three youth corps members was made public through audio-visual means on Thursday, September 26.

According to the piece of information, some policemen from Area C Police Command in Surulere were alleged to have extorted the sum of N1 million from three members of the Youth Corps members. The corps members were in a car when they were stopped. The police asked for a driver’s licence and were shown a soft copy that was not accepted as proof of a licence. Then, the corps members were taken to the station where the alleged extortion heist happened.

However, the conversation at the police station was captured in a video. An excerpt:  “They said I should log into my NYSC portal. While trying to log in, one snatched my phone. They started going through messages and pictures. They asked me where I got the money for a car. I told them it’s my mum’s car. Then, they said I should give them N10 million…I said I didn’t have, but I could afford N50, 000.

They refused. I begged him as he was still searching my phone. When he went through my account and saw N116, 000, I told him I could give them N100, 000 but he refused and said I should call people to send me money. He heard me talking to my girlfriend on the phone to send me N200, 000. Fortunately, my family already knew I was with the police because I called my mummy immediately the incident occurred, and she had called my girlfriend. So, when I asked my girlfriend for N200, 000, she said she didn’t have it…They met about N200, 000 on my other guy’s phone too and told him to send N100,000 to me. They said I should give him my ATM card to go and withdraw N200, 000.”

In addition, and allegedly, the police forced one of them to transfer from a Bitcoin wallet worth $842 to them. Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, Benjamin Hundeyin informed the press that the accused had been identified and under interrogation. The culprits if found guilty should not run away from the long arm of the law.

One last issue today is the tenure of the Inspector-General of Police which directly relates to your office. The IGP ought to have retired this year by the provisions of the Police Act 2020 which stipulates that public servants must retire after 35 years of service or at 60 years of age.

But it has been altered by a hurried amendment by the National Assembly to read thus: “Section 18, Subsection (8) of the Nigeria Police Act, 2020 (status quo ante) has been substituted to now read “(8) Every police officer shall, on recruitment or appointment, serve in the Nigeria Police Force for 40 years or until he attains the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier”.

The point being made is that the amended clause has now tenured the office of the IGP. I should not go further on this matter, as it is now subjudice. Whatever the verdict, my word of advice is that do not cause extant law to be altered for the sake of an individual or yourself.

There is a moral question for the incumbent to be the beneficiary of an amendment. Nature abhors a vacuum, and there are always new hands to fill vacant positions. Threading this moral line is the sure way, my Dear President, to build strong institutions.

Akhaine, a Professor of Political Science is with the Lagos State University.