Corruption: Police and the ordeal of critics

BY DIPO KEHINDE
Once again, the police in Nigeria have been tied to a whipping post to be tongue-lashed for being the most corrupt in the country.

They have been voted as the most corrupt in a survey done by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP). The national survey covered the police, judiciary, power, education and health sectors.

According to the survey unveiled in Lagos, a bribe is paid in 54 percent of interactions with the police.

We find it convenient to do such survey every year with the Nigeria Police Force being handed the shameful trophy as the most corrupt public institution.

We generally condemn the police every time and go to bed feeling good.

But, this ostrich strategy or practice has not improved the situation in any way.

Some problems are very difficult for critics to comprehend.

The police corruption problem is a sure example of this Crux Criticorum as they call it in Latin.

The paradox is that in this same police institution seen to have led in bribery, we have seen officers who rejected bribes running into billions of naira from criminals that they have brought to justice. I will mention a few of these officers shortly.

Every time the negative survey is done, the good and the bad guys are mashed up. We don’t really get to hear much about the good deeds of several officers who have shown continued commitment to crime-fighting in the face of adversity.

There are many good and patriotic officers out there. They have been working so hard, in difficult and dangerous conditions, to keep Nigeria safe and secure. Hundreds of policemen are killed every year in the line of duty, and their families are abandoned. Nobody is interested in these statistics. These are not the stuff that surveys are made of.

We need to stop and ask ourselves, every now and then, why corruption is endemic in our police institution. We need to visit police barracks and see the living conditions; we need to look at their welfare package; their poor salaries, out of which they buy their uniforms and are expected to bear expenses on investigation activities; we need to see what is happening to the families of the fallen heroes among them. Why are Nigerian police officers being celebrated for their professionalism outside the shores of the country?

See how they turn out where the condition of service is good. Here in Nigeria and outside the country.

The truth is that the police institution in every country is a reflection of society at large.

A bad tree does not yield good apples. Police officers are a product of the system.

But the situation in Nigeria is not a hopeless one. We still have many officers who remain standing as the bastion of professionalism.

Who are the people busting crimes and making huge recoveries at the EFCC, ICPC, FIRS, Presidential Task Force on Recovery of Public Properties, etc.? Where are they from?

They are members of the Nigeria Police Force who are better motivated. They do the job, and they have been commended for the high level of professionalism displayed.

It’s on record that EFCC has achieved over 1000 convictions within 11 months, and also secured the convictions of 111 fraudsters within that period in the southwest, even though the powers that be are yet to confirm Ibrahim Magu as EFCC Chairman in appreciation of these accomplishments that would not have been possible if they have been after bribes.

Lately, Nigerians are getting to appreciate the police more and more. This month alone, I’ve seen private and public institutions giving awards to some officers, including AIG Leye Oyebade, AIG Ahmed Iliyasu, and CP Hakeem Odumosu, in recognition of their leadership accomplishments and uprightness.

In my career as a journalist that covered the crime beat for many years, I have seen the good, the bad, and the ugly side of our largely untrained, ill-motivated, and ill-equipped police.

I can also bear testimony to the great deeds of officers who resisted temptations and worked hard to make the organization a reputable institution by removing the negative prefix (dis) in the word disreputable that is often attached to the image.

I will dwell a bit on the activities of the retired commissioner of police, Dan Nkem Okoro; the Commander, Intelligence Response Team (IRT) DCP Abba Kyari; the Commander, Border Patrol at Seme, CSP Udu Moses Ogechi, and Area ‘F’ Commander in Ikeja, Lagos – ACP Olusoji Akinbayo.

Can we still remember how Okoro rejected bribe in Rivers State and recovered over N111 million from 23 INEC officials? Yet, nobody is talking about corruption in INEC.

The same Okoro, in March 1997 shunned bribery to arrest Foday Sankoh, the leader of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra-Leone who had sliced through Nigeria’s security like a hot knife through butter. Sankoh used to cut the limbs of those who got in his way during a dehumanising war that claimed the lives of over 50, 000 people.

Sankoh, who was trained as a rebel in Libya, sneaked into Nigeria with some rebels through the Murtala Mohammed International Airport (MMIA), in Lagos.

He had beaten every other security at the airport, then he was sighted by Okoro who was the intelligence officer at the MMIA then. The VIP being guarded through the airport aroused his curiosity, and he bravely stepped in, intercepted Sankoh and asked for his identity.

When Sankoh disclosed his identity, Okoro said: “Sir! You’re under arrest.”

Sankoh was shocked. He tried to negotiate his passage as he was moving with loads of cash and some armed guards, but Okoro stood his ground and brought him in.

This police officer also headed a technical subcommittee in the Senate Committee on Customs, Excise and Tariff and made immense contributions in the recovery of N117billion from duties, excise and tariffs not remitted.

Other intelligence and investigative breakthroughs in later years made Okoro a celebrity in Nigeria, where he won many awards and also received a medal for his courage and intelligence from former President, Dr Goodluck Jonathan after he arrested Lagos-based Internet fraudsters who killed Cynthia Osokogu, a postgraduate student of Nasarawa State University and daughter of a retired General, Frank Osokogu. Okoro was also commended for rejecting N15million offered to release the killers on bail. He again successfully prosecuted the killers and got death sentences for them.

Of course, DCP Abba Kyari is an officer that needs no introduction in Nigeria.

Kyari began to gain national prominence in August 2013, when he arrested Abbey Godogodo, a notorious armed robber linked to the killing of over 300 people. He recovered 42 AK47 Rifles, GPMGs and RPGs from Godogodo.

He had solved several crime mysteries and arrested kidnappers across the country, including the abductors of the wife of the Governor of CBN and those who killed the Chief Security Officer of Dangote Group.

He earned promotion for what the authorities described as gallantry, superlative and outstanding performance.

He was also celebrated for tracking the activities of Nigerian billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudi Dumeme Onuamadike, aka Evans, by monitoring 126 telephone lines before he could nail him.

CSP Udu Moses Ogechi has been a very quiet achiever, whose uncompromising nature and meritorious services have not received much media coverage.

Before he was singled out for the task of carrying out the presidential mandate of securing Nigeria’s most strategic land border, Ogechi had served as the Squadron Commander, MOPOL 43, Lion Building; Commander in charge of Diplomatic Missions and the Commander, Lion Building. He performed very well there and he led many successful operations that are commendable.

He had served as Commander, Federal Task Force on Narcotic and Counterfeit Drugs under the late Dr Dora Akunyili, and had contributed largely to the successes recorded in the war against fake drugs. He led the operations.

During his years at NAFDAC, he led the sanitisation of Onitsha Head Bridge drug market, where illicit drugs worth billions of naira were confiscated, even arms and ammunition. The operation was a celebrated one. He never compromised.

It is not surprising that Ogechi was chosen by IGP Muhammed Adamu as the right officer to effect the directives of President Muhammadu Buhari on the closure of the Seme Border. The mission has witnessed seizures of contraband goods worth billions of Naira and the seizure of weapons and illicit drugs. His activities have earned Nigeria trillions of naira as income. Even the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, and the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed recently testified to it. Robbers and gunrunners now see Seme as a nightmare.

Smugglers have also not been having their way due to the effective policing that has led to several arrests and recoveries. Such an excellent police officer deserves promotions and commendations as an exemplary ambassador of this great country.

In 2017, the Police Service Commission commended and promoted two officers for rejecting a bribe of $21million.

The officers, Olusoji Akinbayo and Inspector Sunday Idowu reportedly rejected the princely sum from a pipeline vandal, Samuel Wilberforce, who tried to lure them to do his will.

The officers reportedly arrested Wilberforce and members of his gang for pipeline vandalism.

For their loyalty to the Force, the authorities rewarded Akinbayo, a CSP, with the rank of ACP and Idowu got ASP rank.

At first ACP Akinbayo was posted to Area ‘D’ in Mushin as Area Commander, and he proved his worth; then he was brought to Ikeja as Area ‘F’ Commander, where he is also performing.

All these officers have a good role model in IGP Adamu, who has a reputation as a decent and highly professional officer. He was the Nigeria representative in Lyon, at INTERPOL, and he won lots of medals on his international missions. He came as the best choice when President Buhari was shopping for an officer with sterling qualities as IGP.

In spite of inadequate funding, the police are making headways under the leadership of IGP Adamu and the supervision of the Police Service Commission under Alhaji Musiliu Smith.

The Minister of Police Affairs, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi, has also made immense contributions to the ongoing reforms in the police.

He recently inaugurated a 12 Member Ministerial Interim Committee on the Nigeria Police Trust Fund, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Nnamdi Maurice Mbaeri.

This is in line with President Buhari’s commitment at tackling insecurity in the country, through the establishment of the Ministry of Police Affairs and his assent to the Nigeria Police Trust Fund establishment Act, 2019, aimed at providing legal framework for training and provision of security equipment, to enhance skills of personnel of the Nigeria Police Force that has hitherto been neglected for so long.

The police institution in Nigeria has come a long way since the force was at first created to police the Lagos colony in 1861 before constabularies were later set up to form the northern and southern protectorates.

In 1930, the northern and southern police forces became the Nigeria Police Force headed by an Inspector General of Police.

Every other arm of the Nigeria armed forces and paramilitaries came out of today’s Nigeria Police Force.

These officers are working and we need to appreciate and celebrate them. We should focus less on their Achilles heel.

Bribery and corruption will be minimal if the police are well paid. Throwing stones at them or shouting corruption all the time won’t help the situation because a hungry belly has no ears.

Today, we still have no other institution to thank for giving us a safe and secure society than the Nigeria Police Force.

Ordinarily, I wouldn’t have even written anything on this over-beaten issue, but on second thought I felt that a drop of ink could make a million think.