पुलिस थे थे PUBLIC

POLICE AND THE PUBLIC

The police is your friend. This is the aphorism spoken in almost all police stations and offices. But what manner of friendship is the police to the average Nigerian? Does the average Nigerian see the police as his friend or foe? The way the police treat and relate with its publics, one may be forced to ask is this how friends relate or treat one another? Should a friend betray or take advantage of his friend? Should a friend always be on the look out to undo his friend?

Last Sunday, February 8, 2008 police vehicle killed a taxi driver near garrison junction in Port Harcourt, Rivers State. I have heard two version of what happened: one alleged that the police men where pursuing another vehicle when they rammed into the taxi driver who was trying to bring out a luggage from his boot for a passenger that was alighting from his cab. Another version alleged that the police patrol van has stopped the driver but the deceased refuse to stop because he didn’t want to pay “toll gate.” so when the team caught up with him while he was dropping a passenger, the police driver decided to hit him for his stubbornness.

According to proponents of this position, the police driver hit him, reverse and he hit again and again until they were convinced the man was dead. I find it frightening to believe the second speculation but if it is true then we are not safe as those who are suppose to protect us have turned against us. This is just one of the many acts of Police brutality in Port Harcourt and other part of Rivers state.

Since former governor of Rivers State, Sir Celestine Omehia introduced curfew in the state the attitude of policemen has change towards the public. Police arrests are at random and those arrested are dumped in various police cells across the state. Presupposes innocent people are framed up on spurious allegation and dumped into cells while the possible real criminals and enemies of the society walked freely on our roads.

Despite the claims by Governor Chubike Amaechi that security, peace and calmness have returned to Port Harcourt, the action and body language of policemen in the state have shown that Port Harcourt and the entire state is under a siege, simple, Rivers is in a state at war. From the manner the police vehicles move along the streets of Port Harcourt without caring for the other road users to how people are arrested at random shows there is insecurity in the state, I may be termed a pessimist but I want to be proven wrong.

It is a common sight to see police vehicles stopped abruptly where two or three youths gathered to argue about the English premier league and they would be ordered into a police vehicle and dumped in cells with charges and allegations that would confuse anybody. Tales from such victims are that if you have enough cash on you may buy your freedom before getting to the station but if you want to show that you know your right or you do not have enough money as at the time of arrest you may spend the night in cell though your name and offence may not appear on the board behind the counter which gives information on every detainee and their offences.

Another trick of the men in black is to accost civilian and ask them to identify themselves by producing an identity card and where the person can not do so he is automatically a criminal and would be arrested and detained on trumped up charges. This has given rise to many residents of the city producing one form of identity card or the other to help them escape police harassment. Does it means that any person who does not have an identity card is a criminal or should be treated as one? Does the possession of an ID card turn a criminal into a saint and law abiding citizen into a criminal? Why should the police ask Nigerians for ID card when the national ID card projects that started about seven years ago is yet to get to Nigerians. Less than 10 per cent of Nigerians who registered during the exercise have collected their cards. By demanding for ID cards from Nigerians the policemen are turning Nigerians into master forgers. Many identity cards presented maybe fake or the companies they claim to work for are non existent but son of man must have an ID; it doesn’t matter how one gets it.

Since the ban on commercial motorcycles, the police in Port Harcourt and it’s environ have become desperate as the Okada riders were reliable source of income for them. There is even an alleged story of a Divisional Police Officer in one of the divisions in Port Harcourt who gave his boys a target of arresting or impounding a minimum of five bikes a day and the hapless Okada man would have to bail his motorcycle with five thousand naira. Since the Okada riders are no longer available for extortion car owners and other drivers of vehicles are now the target of policemen. Also there is another unconfirmed story of a policeman who whenever he impounds any bike the owner will never see such motorcycles as such bikes do not end at the police station. A bold okada man confronted him and the issue ended before his DPO who gave him time to produce the bike and when he failed he was arrested and detained and his family members where sent for to come and write an undertaking that the bike stealing- cop would replace four bikes that he allegedly collected from okadamen and yet he cannot give account for them.

They demand for all manners of papers like Police clearance, EMRC and even asked private car owners to produce certificate of road worthiness which is for commercial vehicles. Some police vehicles have no headlight, indicator light, break light, mirror and even windscreen yet men in such vehicles have the effrontery to stop motorists and asked for what they don’t have. Most vehicles owned by policemen including commercial vehicles do not have required or current papers yet they harass members of the public for similar papers. Are the traffic laws for the police different from that of other Nigerians? Most of the motorcycles use by policemen has no license plates except in few cases where you see a tag like MOPOL.

There is this female police woman at Mile 1 police station Diobu, her specialty is arresting goods and other wares displayed by roadside traders between the police station and Education bus stop, she would pick those goods and mix them together in a manner that the traders may never be able to identify what is theirs. I watch with sadness as the woman arrested six tubers of yam form one Mallam. The police woman who is always in mufti to hide her identity painstakingly chose the six tubers from a wheel barrow load of yam and the Mallam never recover his yams. That is his price for street trading. It is a daily occurrence to see policemen from Mile 1 station extorting money from lorries discharging food alone Ikwerre Road for traders at the Mile 1 or Railway market. If the extortion is done in the day one would have excuse that the vehicles are causing obstruction but they do it in the night also. And this market has no parking lot for vehicles to offload.

What manner of friends does the Nigerian public have in the police? The police cannot discharge their constitutional duty without support and cooperation from the public? The police are not superior citizens to other Nigerians, they choose to serve the public and they should do so or leave the force. Any one joining the force should have a heart for law and order and fighting crime but not see the force as a short cut to wealth through extortion. Policemen should be at the forefront of fighting oppression and injustice rather than aiding and abetting these.

The police authorities should embark on genuine effort to reconcile its men with the public. The public cannot assist the police in fighting crime when there is mistrust and suspicion when the complainant or informant can end up being the accused. DPOs should pay a daily visits to their cells and interact with the detainees in order to identify and release those who have no business being there. Public relations training should be introduce at the various police training schools. Nigerians should not be condemned as criminals until they are convicted by competent courts of law.