The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Police

  • Police: no demand for ransom yet

    Abductors of activist lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, may have contacted his family and are demanding N150 million ransom for his release.

    But Ozekhome’s elder brother, Pius, told a confidant that no relative had been contacted.

    Ozekhome, his driver and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Athanasious Ugbomhe were kidnapped at the weekend.

    According to reports in the social media yesterday, Ozekhome’s abductors have contacted his family and are demanding a ransom of N150 million with a three-day ultimatum.

    However, a close friend of Ugbomhe confided in The Nation yesterday that his abductors had demanded N100 million for his release.

    The source said they opened contact on Sunday, adding that “since then they have not called again.”

    His words: “This man requires constant medical attention. He is a good person and not a moneybags. They should release him unconditionally.”

    Edo State police spokesman Moses Eguavoen said: “We are monitoring the situation and we are still searching.”

    On the issue of ransom, he said: “We are not aware of that yet.

    “The families have not told us anything of such, but you know in such cases, the families always want to be careful. They, most times, don’t tell us about ransom. We have not heard that but we are still searching.”

     

  • Police urged to probe demolition of Mokola flyover barrier

    A chieftain of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Oyo State, Alhaji Abass Oloko, has urged the police to probe the demolition of a barrier on the Mokola flyover in Ibadan, the state capital.

    He urged the police to interrogate the driver of the truck that demolished the barrier to know if he was sponsored.

    In a statement yesterday, Oloko said about three weeks ago, the government alerted the public of a threat by the opposition to demolish the barrier. He said: “How can a former governor describe the bridge as unnecessary in the first place, instead of hailing Governor Abiola Ajimobi for doing what he (the ex-governor) was unable to do in his tenure.

    “If urgent investigation is not conducted by the police, their next target may cause crisis or loss of life, so I urge them to take the necessary steps to arrest the situation.

    “The flyover is for the general use of the masses and has eased traffic since it was inaugurated a few months ago.”

  • Police to ensure lawyer’s release

    The Edo Police Command has vowed to ensure that Chief Mike Ozekhome and his driver are released unhurt.

    Police Commissioner Folunso Adebanjo, who spoke with reporters in Benin, however, did not disclose the measures being taken to secure their release.

    “This is a security matter. We will ensure that they are freed unhurt,” he said.

    Ozekhome, a human rights activist, and his driver were abducted last Friday by suspected kidnappers in Ehor Local Government on the Benin-Auchi Expressway.

    Adebanjo said an assistant superintendent of police, an inspector and two other officers were killed in a gun duel with the abductors when the slain police officers were trying to rescue Ozekhome.

  • Police arrest 300 suspected criminals in Benue

    The Benue State Police Command said yesterday it arrested over 300 suspected criminals in the last three months.

    Police Commissioner Adams Audu said the arrests were made between June and August, three months of his assumption of duty.

    Audu told reporters in Makurdi, the state capital, that the arrests followed the efforts by the command to secure the life and property of the residents.

    He said those arrested include suspected cultists, armed robbers and a maker of a suspected maker of an improvised explosive device (IED).

    Audu expressed joy on the existing cordial relationship between the police and other security agencies in the state.

    He attributed the success story of the command to the synergy among the various security agencies.

    The police chief hailed members of vigilance groups and community leaders for supporting the command in arresting the suspected criminals.

    He said: “We are doing this with the help of the vigilance groups, who are members of the community.

     

     

     

  • ‘Extrajudicial killing and police brutality: The way out?’

    ‘Extrajudicial killing and police brutality: The way out?’

    Our landlord’s son was killed by the police several years ago and they put a gun in his hand and called him an armed robber. The family spent years trying to exonerate their son instead of pursuing the guilty policemen. A lot of paraded people are innocent.” This is the story of a friend of mine while commenting on the prevalence of extrajudicial killings in Nigeria. I am sure that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of this sort of story in the mouth of Nigerians.

    This writer had the opportunity, Wednesday, August 21, this year on Channels TV, to comment on the killing, same day, of an okada rider in Ikorodu, Lagos by a trigger happy policeman. Needless to say, this event is a reflection of the tendency by the Nigerian Police to disregard the value of human life. Extra judicial killing in Nigeria is part of the psyche of Nigerians and the authorities seem to be doing nothing about it. Human life in Nigeria has become chicken life that can be taken without remorse.

    Extra judicial killing simply means the murder of a suspected criminal usually by a governmental agency without trial in a law court. The peculiarity of the situation is the impunity with which it is done. One was perplexed by the reaction of the Lagos Commissioner of Police (CP) Umar Manko to the shooting of the okada rider in Ikorodu, Lagos.  Instead of expressing or showing remorse at the loss of innocent life, the CP chose to warn that the Traffic Law in Lagos was still in force. His face showed anything but remorse for the loss of innocent life.

    Examples abound of extrajudicial killings in Nigeria. Nigeria lost Dele Udoh, an athlete to extra judicial killing in the mid-80s. Recently, the Police killed some students of the University of Uyo and in the process of going to investigate the matter, about 5 members of the executive of National Association of Nigerian Students died in a ghastly motor accident. We remember the Apo 6 who were gruesomely murdered in Abuja and the trial is headed nowhere presently.

    On September 20, last year, 36-year-old Ugochukwu Ozuah, was shot and killed unlawfully, according to eyewitnesses, by a policeman five days after his wedding along the Gbagada Expressway in Lagos after dropping off a classmate at the junction. The escalation of the violence in the north of Nigeria perpetrated by boko haram today is linked with the extra judicial killing of the leader of the group, Mohammed Yusuf. An innocent boy was murdered by a DPO during the last fuel subsidy riots. In February 25, 2013 there was an alleged gruesome murder of two students and grievous injury on four other students of Nasarawa State University by soldiers and policemen. Sometimes, where fellow citizens commit the extrajudicial killing, the Police stand by and watch with silent acquiescence as we saw in the Aluu four killing in Port Harcourt.

    From available statistics, the Nigerian Police alone had killed 7,108 persons in four years as at December 2012. Of the victims, 2,500 were detained suspects.

    People are labelled falsely as armed robbers, post mortem results are falsified, people disappear in police custody without explanation and victims’ families are faced with extortions without results. In most cases, there is no investigation into the deaths in custody, extrajudicial executions or enforced disappearances. Usually, the police hierarchy would prolong ‘investigation’ and allow public attention to shift. At best, the affected police officer would be transferred, making it difficult to locate him/her in the system, and in the end, the investigating agencies would often give up.

    In my view, there is need for an external independent body to take over the investigation and prosecution of extrajudicial killings. The Police Service Commission, PSC, which is constitutionally empowered to investigate and discipline any Police officer found wanting, is bereft of ideas. When matters are reported to it, it still refers the same matter to the same Police for investigation.

    The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) is also empowered to take up issues that border on breach of human rights but it is a government agency and is overwhelmed by the influence of the government depriving it of the will to pursue cases against the government. What we need is an independent body made up civil society groups, the nucleus of which should be made up of lawyers, to take up all cases of extrajudicial killing or police brutality from investigation to prosecution.

    It is time the government addressed this menace frontally and this should start from the leadership showing political will and reducing its own impunity as an example. Extrajudicial killing is a breach of Section 33 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria as amended entitling victims to the remedy of damages.

    For purposes of elaboration, Section 33 of the Constitution provides as follows:

    (1) Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria.

    (2) A person shall not be regarded as having been deprived of his life in contravention of this section, if he dies as a result of the use, to such extent and in such circumstances as are permitted by law, of such force as is reasonably necessary –

    (a) for the defence of any person from unlawful violence or for the defence of property:

    (b) in order to effect a lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained; or

    (c) for the purpose of suppressing a riot, insurrection or mutiny.

    The defence of the murderous Police officers has always been Section 33 (2) (b) since they claim that they kill in order to effect lawful arrest or to prevent the escape of a person lawfully detained. Can it be said that the force of using a gun with life ammunition is reasonably necessary to effect a lawful arrest of an unarmed man?The answer is a clear NO. The requirement for forceful arrest is commensurate and reasonable force. The is absolutely no way the use of gun can qualify as use of reasonable force especially where the victims is unarmed. In any case, most of the killings always result from mere arguments. The Police officer is angered by the temerity of the victim to argue with him or her. The situation is the same with those killed in custody. Armed robbers are killed at will in order to save time and money in prosecution.

    Nothing justifies the use of firearms. Internationally, the use of firearms to effect arrest is frowned at seriously. The United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials make clear that firearms cannot be used unless certain additional requirements are met, including as a preliminary matter that there exists a grave or imminent threat of death or serious injury. Principle 9 of the United Nations Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms states: “Law enforcement officials shall not use firearms against persons except in self-defence or defence of others against the imminent threat of death or serious injury, to prevent the perpetration of a particularly serious crime involving grave threat to life, to arrest a person presenting such a danger and resisting their authority, or to prevent his or her escape, and only when less extreme means are insufficient to achieve these objectives. In any event, intentional lethal use of firearms may only be made when strictly unavoidable in order to protect life.”

    This is an acceptable method of controlling excessive use of firearms in arrests. Nothing stops Nigeria from adopting this provision and domesticating it as further qualification to Section 33 (2) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution. In point of fact, it is recommended that Section 33 (2) (b) of the Nigerian Constitution be amended to adopt the international position as envisaged by the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials and the UN Principles on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions.

    Another cover for extrajudicial killing is Force Order 237, which authorizes the use of firearms if a policeman cannot “by any other means, arrest or re-arrest any person, who is suspected or already has been convicted of an offence punishable by death or at least seven years imprisonment.”

    This provision should immediately be repealed as being against the basic tenets of human rights and given the uncontrolled manner in which the Police are using firearms to kill innocent people with impunity and without punishment. The UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions expressed his concerns about Police Force Order 237 in his report in January 2006, saying that the said Order 237 practically provides the police carte blanche to shoot and kill at will.

    Again, there is need to review the Police Act (1990), which describes the function, structure and operation of the Nigerian Police.The Act was originally drafted in 1943, and was last reviewed in 1967. A bill for its amendment has been with the National Assembly since 2004 and it does not appear that the National Assembly has any plans to get it passed.

    The Nigerian Police is a failure as far as training of its workforce is concerned. Its training institutions have been described as concentration camps. The recent Channels TV report on the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos said it all.

    According to a report by Amnesty International,  after a recruitment freeze between 1991 and 1999, a yearly admittance policy of up to 40,000 was in force between 2000 and 2005 and the training institutions, with capacity for 14,000 recruits per year, could not handle the vast numbers. A Presidential Committee had reported in 2006 that this sudden explosion, as a result of the mass recruitment exercise, turned the colleges more into concentration camps than training institutions. Two years later, the same Presidential Committee noted the effects of the recruitment wave on the police and reported that the nation was therefore saddled with a very large number of unqualified, under-trained and ill-equipped officers and men many of whose suitability to wear the respected uniform of the Force is in doubt … the police are today stuck with this undesirable workforce.

    One weakness to the fight against unlawful killing and police brutality is that victims’ families are usually poor and lack the finance to follow through cases given the several artificial impediments put along their way by the Police itself. People of means rarely fall victims of extrajudicial killing and police brutality. These people pay the police if they are stopped or arrested. They can also afford to hire a lawyer.

    Another weakness to the fight is the failure of the judicial process. Several times, the courts have attempted to award damages against the government for unlawful killing or extrajudicial killing but there is hardly any report that the government has ever obeyed the court orders as to compensation and damages. Examples abound. The Federal High Court recently awarded monetary damages of N137 billion against the Federal Government for the brutal infringements of the fundamental rights of Odi people of Bayelsa State. Before then, the court had ordered the payment of N42 billion to the people of Zaki Biam in Benue State, who were similarly brutalised by armed troops on the illegal orders of President Olusegun Obasanjo. None of these awards have been reported to have been obeyed by the government and so the impunity continues.

    The sooner our courts start awarding compensation to victims and follow up with implementation, the better for us all. Point is, in spite of numerous such awards, hardly would you see a single award being obeyed by the Police and government. This is another aspect of the impunity.

    The government must stand up to its responsibility of protecting the life of its citizens in accordance with the Constitution. The United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions has reiterated the importance of investigations by stating that it is the obligation of Governments to carry out exhaustive and impartial investigations into allegations of violations of the right to life, to identify, bring to justice and punish the perpetrators, to grant compensation to the victims or their families and to take effective measures to avoid future recurrence of such violations.” Nigeria is no exception to this universal principle.

    Something has to be done, urgently and proactively. You never know whose turn it will be tomorrow.

    •Ikeji is Lead advocate, Constitutional Rights Advocacy Initiative (crai).

     

     

     

     

  • ‘Police should stop public parade of suspects’

    The recent public parade of a Bishop in Port Harcourt by the police for allegedly assaulting a minor brings to the fore the many instances of abuse of fundamental human rights by the police.

    As reported by the newspapers, the Bishop, while being paraded by the police, reportedly admitted to the press that he actually had carnal knowledge of the 15-year-old, but blamed it on the devil and the Bishop in whose church he had been ministering as a guest pastor when the incident took place.

    The Bishop’s version of events that led to the alleged sexual incident was that he had been invited as a guest minister by a Bishop with whom he had had running battles over who should head the Communion of Bishops in Rivers State. During counselling session, a young girl walked in for deliverance and while he was casting out her demons, she began to take off her clothes and in the Bishop’s own words, “before I realised what was happening I found myself on top of her and had carnal knowledge of her”.

    According to the Bishop, the girl started laughing at him soon after the act and asked him if he was angry with himself after observing his sullen countenance. Again in the Bishop’s own words, “I was so angry and annoyed that I called some of my pastors and made a confession that I did not know what was happening”.

    About a month later, the girl’s father called the Bishop to say his daughter was pregnant. The father procured abortion for his daughter while the Bishop footed the bills. However, the police are now alleging rape and on the basis of which they decided to parade the Bishop before the press and the public.

    Like I said earlier, Nigeria is a country of absurdities a country where anything can happen and do in fact happen on a daily basis. As a result, its people have longed ceased to be shocked, their sensitivity having been continuously buffeted by one absurdity or the other, each one dwarfing the one before it in grotesque details.

    The fact that there has been no official condemnation or denunciation of this primitive practice of parading , or more appropriately, trying criminal suspects in the press before their day in court lend credence to the above assertion. Without underplaying the enormity of the depth of infamy into which this bishop has sunk by his moral failure, the decision of the Police to parade him before the public was clearly born out of nothing but a desire to humiliate him and ultimately prejudice his trial.

    Clearly, the constitution of Nigeria presumes as innocent a man accused of an offence until he is proved guilty by a competent court of jurisdiction. Nowhere in our statutes can a provision be found empowering the police or any other law enforcement agency to first humiliate a suspect, thoroughly shame and disgrace him before passing him over to a law court for his trial.

    The only instance where the police are allowed by law to parade a suspect is where there is need for the identification of the suspect by a witness who claims to have seen the suspect commit the alleged offence. In this case, the suspect is lined up amidst other people while the witness attempts to point him out from the crowd. This is called identification parade and it does not take place before the press.

    Parading suspected criminals in the media is already convicting the person in the court of public opinion. There is no way you can ensure that a person has a free and fair trial if you have already given the public a bad impression about the person.

    This illegality takes place so often that some members of the public have come to accept it as the norm and the media make it look like it is legal. But no, it is illegal and a clear violation of the suspect’s fundamental rights both under the Nigerian Constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights.

    One is at a loss to fathom what kind of justice a suspect can possibly hope to get in the trial court after he has been paraded by the police as a criminal, his face shown on the television, in the newspapers and, in this age of social media, on the internet. One is tempted to say thankfully we do not practice jury system in Nigeria otherwise one can imagine the difficulty in choosing a panel of jury from a public who have already been made to view the suspect as guilty. However, when we consider that our judges also read newspapers, watch TV and surf the internet, our gratitude suffers something of an eclipse.

    There is no doubt that the single most important reason while the police engage in this practice is for publicity to call attention to itself and make the public believe that it is actually fighting crime. But it is a poor approach in winning back the confidence of the public that has long lost faith in the ability of the Nigerian police to protect it in the face of the current, unprecedented upsurge in scale of violent crimes across the land.

    And for this publicity, the police are willing to do anything to get it including parading animals and toddlers as robbery or criminal suspects. In 2009, the entire nation was bewildered and for some of us who can still be shocked by the events in this country embarrassed when the Nigeria police, Kwara State Command, paraded a goat as an arm robbery suspect. The goat suspect was detained over an alleged attempt to steal a Mazda car.

    As if that was not bizarre enough, the recent parading of a two month old baby by the police in Abeokuta has left not a few Nigerians in shock. Newspaper reports have it that the police in Abeokuta paraded a two-month old baby, his mother and his fifteen-year old brother over an alleged robbery committed by their father. The family was arrested after the suspect fled his home on arrival of the Police.

    The nation was so shocked that a non-governmental organisation the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria called for the officers involved in this show of shame and abuse of the rights of the toddler to be thoroughly disciplined. If the authorities are willing to demonstrate for once that they listen to the Nigerians people, the officers who are involved in these despicable practices ought to be severely punished.

    In the end, this calls for an overhaul of the Police Force and re-orientation and re-training of its officers and men in line with the code of modern policing and international best practices. It can never be said enough that the parading of a Bishop by the Police was a most egregious form of violation of his fundamental human rights, namely his right to dignity and presumption of innocence as provided in the Nigerian Constitution.

     

  • IGP warns police on excessive use of force, arms

    IGP warns police on excessive use of force, arms

    The Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, has warned all police personnel against excessive use of force and unjustifiable application of lethal weapons contrary to standing rules of engagement.

    He gave the warning in a circular addressed to all Zonal Assistant Inspectors General of Police, Command Commissioners of Police, Heads of Department and Formations across the country.

    Abubakar warned that officers who violated the rules of use of weapons would be punished, according to the circular a copy of which was made available to journalists on Friday

    The IGP urged officers and men of the force to be mindful of the constitutional rights of the citizenry, while performing their statutory duties.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Abubakar reminded the AIGs and CPs that the ban on road blocks subsists and should therefore ensure strict enforcement.

    He restated his commitment to reforming and returning the police to the path of professionalism in line with international best practices and the transformation agenda of the Federal Government.

    He also expressed the resolve to rid the force of all forms of corruption, and charged the personnel to desist from such practice.

    Abubakar enjoined them to abide by the Code of Conduct and Professional Standards for members of the force.

    He called on the X-Squad, an internal Police Department that monitors enforcement of discipline within the force, to step up its monitoring of the personnel to stem corrupt practices in the force.

     

     

  • Police recover stolen Lagos cab in Ibadan

    The police in Oyo State have recovered a stolen Golf car.

    The car, painted in the Lagos commercial colour, is marked YA 107 FKJ.

    It was stolen from a driver in Oshodi, Lagos State.

    Police spokesperson Bisi Clet-Ilobanafor said the car was abandoned at Ogbere Oloba in Ibadan.

    Clet-Ilobanafor said: “A resident, Oyedeji Michael, reported that around 6:30am on Tuesday, he sighted a Volkswagen Golf car with Lagos commercial colour abandoned in his area.

    “When the car was recovered and searched by detectives, it was found to belong to Ogunmuyiwa Adejere of the Cooperative Investment and Credit Society (CICS) Ltd., Ijeshatedo, Surulere, Lagos.

    “Further investigation involving officers from the Lagos Police Command showed that the car was snatched from the driver at Oshodi.”

    She said no arrest had been made.

    The police spokesperson said two herdsmen were arrested for allegedly attacking a farmer, Fatai Alimi.

    She said: “Muibi Azeez from Aboriso, near Iseyin, reported to the police on Sunday that some herdsmen attacked and injured his brother.

    “Alimi was said to have challenged the herdsmen, who were grazing their cattle on his farm. The herdsmen turned on him and beat him up, inflicting serious injuries on him.”

    She said the herdsmen would soon be arraigned.

  • Police: motorcyclist’s killer policeman arrested

    The police have said a policeman who killed an commercial motorcycle (Okada) rider, Olalekan Ajayi, at Ikorodu, Lagos State, has been arrested.

    The policeman, it was learnt, is being investigated.

    A statement yesterday by Force spokesman, Frank Mba, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), said the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar had directed the Lagos State Police Commissioner Mr. Umar Manko, to ensure that justice is expeditiously done on the matter.

    The statement said: “Following the unfortunate death of a commercial motorcyclist, Olalekan Ajayi, on August 20, and the ensuing protests yesterday (August 21) at Ikorodu, Lagos State, by aggrieved citizens, the IGP has called for calm to enable police authorities wade into the matter and ensure that justice is served.

    “Meanwhile, the police officer linked with the killing of the late Ajayi has been arrested and detained; he is presently undergoing investigation.

    “The IGP condoles with the bereaved relations, friends and colleagues of the late Ajayi. While promising that the Force will do its utmost best to ensure that the investigation into the death is properly done and concluded in record time, the IGP urges all aggrieved persons to remain calm and patient.”

  • New Police PFA

    New Police PFA

    •Before this programme begins, we should know the fate of the other pension schemes

    The Nigeria Police Force has established its own Pension Fund Administrator (PFA), ostensibly to curb the irregularities in the management of pensions of anguished police retirees in the country. The PFA creation that came after its purported compliance with the extant Pension Reform Act, 2004 and the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), has reportedly received the approval of President Goodluck Jonathan. But will its birth address the challenges currently being faced by police retirees? Is Mohammed Abubakar, the Inspector-General of Police’s (IG) reported optimism over the PFA while declaring open a three-day capacity building workshop for the police pension desk officers not misplaced?

    On Abubakar’s sanguinity, he declared: “I am glad to mention the creation of a Police Pension Fund Administrator… It becomes necessary that we take our destiny into our own hands … It is for this reason that President Goodluck Jonathan directed that the police should continue to be covered under the contributory scheme but approved that we should have a PFA of our own…’’

    Ordinarily, such an important workshop, with participants drawn from all police pension formations across the country should serve as a good source of education/enlightenment and empowerment for the police pension officers: It should teach them how to manage their pension fund in line with the National Pension Commission’s guidelines. The workshop ought to let them know that a selfless and properly managed pension scheme for the police could motivate not only the force’s retirees but also those still in service to give their best through noble service to the nation.

    But we have our doubts whether these lofty aims can be achieved by the force PFA. More than anything else, systemic corruption is the cause of failed pension schemes in the country. Some unscrupulous but powerful elements that feed fat on the system divert not only police pension funds but others meant for retirees across the country into private accounts.

    No one is again asking questions about what happened to the stolen billions of naira police pension. The chief culprit, John Yakubu Yusufu, a former director in the Police Pension Scheme Office was shamefully convicted to a two-year imprisonment with an option of a paltry fine of N750, 000 by an Abuja Federal High Court presided over by Justice Abubakar Talba. It is also sad that Abdulrasheed Maina, Chairman of the Presidential Pension Reform Task Force Team openly confessed that about N3.3 trillion that was released by the Federal Government for public sector retirees since 1976 was done ‘without accountability.’ What a country!

    More disgusting is the fact that those in high quarters have turned the other cheek to the awful spectacle of siphoning of not only police retirees but other aged retirees that routinely, but sadly, collapse and die in endless pensioners’ verification queues – after having been beaten by scorching sun and heavy rains.

    We demand for explanations regarding what happened to the Police Trust Fund money before the new PFA commences operation. If such funds could just go down the drain, what is the assurance that the PFA will not – not even with a largely de-motivated police force perceived in the public domain as notorious and highly corrupt.

    The panacea to failed pension schemes is not necessarily the creation of a new PFA that would be run largely by the same corrupt class of people that contributed to the demise or failure of earlier ones. Pension schemes work in other countries because in such climes, their systems work. We deprecate an evolving Nigerian tradition whereby otherwise good policies are abandoned mid-way due to avoidable manmade hiccups. The country and not only the police should endeavour to fix policy problems rather than keep adopting the easy way of coming up with new ones that would most probably also fail.