Editorial
Different folks, different strokes. Perhaps this best summarises the experiences of many Nigerians about the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).
Many will tell you the atrocities committed by some policemen – bribery at police checkpoints, brutality against fellow Nigerians, and in extreme cases, extra-judicial killings.
As a matter of fact, many Nigerians have come to see the catchphrase ‘the police is your friend’ as a huge joke. Indeed, for many, the police force has no redeeming feature.
Yet, there are other Nigerians that have seen the better side of some police officers and will remain eternally grateful to the force as a result of their striking benevolence.
Distressed 35-year-old Daniel Innocent falls in this category. He and his wife live in an uncompleted building in Ikoyi. Innocent’s wife went into labour at about 2.00 a.m. on April 17. He is not mobile and so had to look for help around.
When none was forthcoming, he hit the road, armed with his faith, in search of a vehicle to take his wife to hospital at Obalende around 3.00 a.m.
He was accosted by officers attached to the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) patrolling in Ikoyi who asked him what he was doing outside at that ungodly hour, moreover when the state was under lockdown as part of measures to check the spread of the new coronavirus (COVID-19).
Innocent told them his story and, to his surprise, the police officers offered to drive him home and eventually drove himself, his wife and one of their neighbours to the hospital.
It would be interesting to know what was on his mind when the police officers offered to help, given the many negative stories he must have heard about some other police officers in such situations.
That the patrol team took his wife to hospital at a time when it seemed hope was lost made Innocent to offer the officers N2,000 “to buy recharge card”.
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To his surprise, they rejected the offer, saying that they knew what it was like to be in such situation.
To demonstrate that they really cared and indeed were moved by the milk of human kindness rather than by any pecuniary interest, the police officers went to the hospital the following day to check on the family.
This may look like a flash in the pan, but it is something worthy of commendation and emulation. Ordinarily though, the police officers did what they should have done, but that is in developed countries.
In our environment, it is uncommon magnanimity. It shows that the police force has good and bad men like any other public institution and that character, whether good or bad, is a personal rather than institutional matter.
The onus, however, is for the police authorities to ensure that most of their officers and men toe the path of rectitude to change the negative public perception of the force.
But the story of Mr and Mrs Innocent also reveals certain societal shortcomings that cannot be glossed over. It is about poverty, lack of care for citizens and the ultimate reliance on the much acclaimed opium of the people – religion.
In better run climes, they would not have any headache searching for vehicle in such critical moments. All they need do is reach out for their telephone, dial the appropriate services, and within minutes they would arrive to take them to hospital.
With women in such situation, anything could have happened as labour pain does not know lockdown. That the young man who was expecting his first baby had to sell his phone and borrow money to pay his hospital bill also tells about the pervading poverty in the land. Hinging his hope for rescue on faith is commonplace in the country.
All said, however, inasmuch as we are not necessarily making a case for wayward police officers, it is pertinent to say that whatever makes some of our policemen to embrace the crooked path, like taking bribes, cruelty to citizens and extra-judicial killings, among others, must be addressed.
The officers and men need to be well motivated, trained and kitted to perform optimally. It is in the interest of the society to have professional police officers who know their onions. We should strive for nothing less.
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