Policemen should be steps ahead of criminals, not the other way round
For their era, the Babatunde Folorunshos, the Ishola Oyenusis and the other armed robbers who made the headlines in Nigeria in the 1970s were indeed armed robbers to reckon with. But if they were to be operating today, they would not have qualified for the kind of attention that they got then, given the ‘professionalism’, expertise, precision and sophistication that today’s armed robbers bring to bear on their illegal trade, unless they retrain and retool. Today’s armed robbers have taken full advantage of modern gadgets and arms and ammunition in a way that would make those who are shaping our present world regret that their inventions are now being turned into the tragedy of modernity.
When the news of the armed robbery that shook Lagos on September 9 hit the town, many people knew from the way the robbers operated that a lot of logistics went into their operations; we also knew that it was not the kind of robbery that was hastily executed; it must have been well planned and perhaps rehearsed before the day of attack; we had every cause to suspect too that sophisticated weapons were deployed by the bandits. Indeed, this is the area that interests me most.
Confessions following the arrest of three of the suspected robbers in the Ajangbadi area of Lagos, following a tip-off, exactly two weeks after their operation confirmed that much. Indeed, the songs that they sang at the Lagos State Police Command in Ikeja after their arrest are enough to instill the fear of God in many of the people who saw what they referred to as their armoury last Monday, when they were paraded by the police. Not a few persons too would have wondered how the 23 year-olds – Uche Okeagbu, Emmanuel Ezeani and Chinonso Nwuangwu- could have been so sucked into armed robbery. Obviously, going by their confessions, ‘bad society’, as the late Fela Anikulapo-Kuti called it, had a great influence on them.
It was Okeagbu’s confession that led to the recovery of a large cache of ammunition: one rocket propel grenade launcher, 225 AK 47 magazines fully-loaded, over 10,000 rounds of AK 47 live ammunition, two general purpose machine guns, 260 rounds of GPMG live ammunition, five dynamite with detonator and nine AK 47 rifles. A Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) team led by Mr. Abba Kyari, found the gang’s armoury in two Volkswagen buses parked at Okeagbu’s residence at Ajangbadi. The police also seized a Toyota Camry belonging to the gang. The car was fitted with sensors and camera. That way, the robbers could monitor whatever was going on behind them. If we recollect the kinds of arms and ammunition that the police seized in Oraifite, Anambra State recently, in the course of arresting a suspected kidnap kingpin as well as many others, we should worry about the source/s of these weapons.
Indeed, all these and more should be enough to make one wonder why, in spite of all these unsavoury developments, the government cannot see the larger picture of what should constitute national priorities. A nation besieged by these kinds of security challenges ought to be able to put its acts together to deal frontally with them. Just last week, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) said some 800 companies have closed down in the country in the last three years alone. LCCI has not said anything new, though; the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and other bodies that should know had raised similar alarm in the past. The implication of this is the erasure of millions of direct jobs and many more of ancillary others. This point has come for mention in view of the fact that many of the people involved in violent crimes in recent years are youths, most of them with tertiary education but with nothing meaningful to do. And, since the state cannot provide them with something worthwhile, the devil is delighted to keep them busy. But that is at the peril of the larger society.
The Lagos State Police Command has every cause to be angry and to put in their all to fish out those who troubled the peace of Lagos ansd almost rubbished their efforts at crime prevention, because, when on September 9, the gang struck, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, said the robbers succeeded largely because his men were sleeping. The command swiftly denied this but that would not have impressed anyone. However, with the arrest of three of the suspects, the command is probably trying to prove to the IG that it is not sleeping. And, that, really, is the next logical thing to do; it is not that there is yet any fool-proof system to stop people from armed robbery, but those going into it would think twice if they know that the chances of being caught are high.
We saw the typical robbers’ greed in this Lagos gang. Like most other robbers, this gang too comprises Oliver Twists. Even as the dust was yet to settle on the Lagos robberies, the gang went to Ilorin in Kwara State, where it allegedly robbed a bank and attacked a police station. If their confessions are anything to go by, the suspects had carried out at least four major robberies this year alone in places like Ibadan where they had four operations; Uyo; and Share, Kwara State. It is not clear when the other robberies in Akure, Ondo State, Osogbo, Osun State, Okene, Kogi State and, Auchi, Edo State, as allegedly confessed by one of them, took place. Now, if these people stole as much as N50 million as was reported in Lagos alone, how did they share the proceeds and what did they do with it that they could not resist the urge to go for another operation so soon?
No doubt if it were possible to ride a horse in the stomach of the state commissioner of police, Mr. Umar Manko, there won’t be any obstructions. This is some progress made in the battle to demystify the gang that shook the state after a long break from such incidents, but it is not yet uhuru. Neither the state, nor any other part of the country is safe until the real kingpins of the gang are held because, as we have seen, they have robbed in many parts of the country. Again, if we go by the confessions of one of the arrested suspects who said he got N500,000, N800,000 and another N800,000 and N100,000 (for the Lagos robbery where at least N50million was said to have been stolen), then who are those who got the lion’s share of the loots? We have to keep such people out of circulation if Lagosians and Nigerians as a whole are to have a truly merry Christmas and happy New Year.
Above all however, the Federal Government has to rethink its attitude towards the police. It is criminals who should be following the law enforcement agents and not the other way round. Policemen cannot be carrying glorified Dane guns and be expected to confront criminals with the most sophisticated weapons. That is akin to a man jumping in front of a moving train.
On this note, I say happy 52nd Independence anniversary in advance. If you have cause to thank the government; please do; but for me, I give glory to God Almighty. May next year’s anniversary be more rewarding (Amen).
