A video clip that went viral early last week fittingly illustrates the pitiable state of security in Nigeria. The video, obviously filmed from a safe distance a couple of feet above sea-level by a concerned witness, was about six armed policemen roughing up a tricycle (Keke) rider. It started with what appeared a negotiation with the Keke man, then mere talk morphed into shoving and hitting of the hapless man by the armed policemen.

A by-stander who may have felt pity for the now sufficiently ruffled and beaten Keke man came forward to plead. He was warded off by one of the cops. He refused to budge, muttering words too faint to decipher. From the manner he was gesticulating, he was obviously making a plea to the irate cops to stop beating the unarmed man. And for his effrontery to confront the cops, they descended on him, dragging him here and everywhere. The show of shame by these cops made a scene and caused traffic snarl. Cars honked and honked but it would not bother the cops. They just must have their way. They laboured to bundle their new catch into their van but he resisted them.

Meanwhile, for the period they dealt with the ‘intruder’, their first victim was huddled up in his tricycle gasping for breath. What gets to you from the video clip is why six armed policemen would devotedly descend on an unarmed Keke rider who decided to eke out a living through a legitimate, albeit painful, means rather than take to crime. In a country that is under-policed with festering crime and criminality, all that would appeal to the work ethic of six cops is to bear down on a harmless man.

Knowing what policemen do to tricycle and motor bike (Okada) riders, your guess is as good as mine on what may have prompted these six idle and lazy cops to make the life and the whole being of a poor Keke rider their duty post. No sane policeman who sees that video would approve of the action of their colleagues. It is just what it is: ignoble and inglorious. But we are talking about the Nigeria Police notorious for lawlessness and brigandage. We are talking about the police which bears the sleazy epaulet as one of the most corrupt organisations in Nigeria. We are talking about the police whose leader, Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris was given a critical national assignment by President Muhammadu Buhari but he did otherwise and he is still keeping his job.

It does not matter what excuse the IGP has, he was asked by the President to relocate to Benue State in the wake of the mindless killings by herdsmen. He merely made a dash to the traumatized state and obviously did not revert to the President for briefing. Otherwise, a shocked Buhari would not have wondered in the manner he did that the IGP did not comply fully with his instruction. The President’s self-admission of his lack of knowledge of whether IGP Idris obeyed his instruction is not just worrisome, it raises fundamental concerns and questions. Is Mr. President truly in charge of the command and control structure of the nation’s security apparatchik? Even if IGP forgot to brief the president, shouldn’t Buhari have demanded an update from the IGP? As IGP, Mr. Idris does not report to anybody but the President. He should have unfettered access to the President. If he doesn’t, then it is an aberration. This then raises another curiousity. Are there persons around the President who determine what or who he sees? Are there persons around the President who have turned themselves into alternate commander-in-chief? It is strange that the nation’s number one cop would be given critical assignment by the President at the most trying time in our national life and he would make light of it. No matter his reason, the IGP let Mr. President down. I was excited when Mr. President appointed Idris as IGP because he has age and zeal on his side but I really have been disappointed by his conduct so far especially in the face of the fatal threat of herdsmen in some parts of the country. I had also expected that given the pedigree of IGP Idris, he would wean the police of excesses and banal acts of extra-judicial indulgences. This is not the case. The police have carried on with abandon. The dark and sordid tales from the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in River State exposed by the outspoken Governor of that state is one act too many in the diary of police brigandage. Strangely, the police hierarchy initially denied the allegation by Governor Nyesom Wike that men of SARS were the actual criminals in his state. But reason later prevailed and IGP announced a reform regime for this special department of the police.

But if IGP Idris ever thought he has succeeded in reforming the police, he should ask for a copy of the video clip depicting the bovine manifestation of his men; a video showing six armed policemen who turned an unarmed tricycle rider into an object to display their proficiency and efficiency. IGP Idris has demonstrated he can make the police come good. He has sacked a few for misdemeanor; he has demoted others for acts unbecoming of their noble calling. He must do same to the six brutish cops who were filmed torturing innocent citizens in broad daylight for whatever reason.

The police is an anti-crime agency. They are to fight the criminals and contain criminalities, not to bear down on law-abiding citizens. Isn’t it a national shame and an evidence of character-deficit in the police that while six armed cops assigned themselves to brutalise one unarmed Nigerian, the criminals they were paid to fight were having a rendezvous in Lagos, Delta, Benue, Yobe and everywhere? IGP Idris should be worried at the excesses of some of his men. I can attest that there are many good cops in Nigeria just the same way I am attesting here that there is a horde of very bad cops running riot in the country; using their privileged positions to prey on the people; extorting money from members of the public especially from poor motor bike and tricycle riders not to mention the commercial bus drivers. There are indeed bad cops who engage in robberies and in sundry crimes they were paid to fight. These things should provoke Idris to action. But first, he must call for the trending video clip showing the show of shame by his men.

We cannot have policemen paid with tax payers’ money who turn the same tax payers to articles for battering and extortion and in some cases to objects only good enough to show their poor karate skills. I worry that some bad cops who put up bad behaviour have sullied the reputation of the many good cops around. But the man who should worry the most is IGP Idris. He should cleanse his house of festering corruption and criminality but first, let him deal with those cops in this horrible video. Nigerians are eagerly awaiting his pronouncement on this matter. Over to you, sir, Mr. Idris.

Culled from Sunday Sun