Opinion
By Ike Abonyi
“The police are the army of the rich, and the poor are their enemy” – Jean-Paul Marat
Whenever you notice Nigeria Police being efficient and extraordinary in their duty on a particular issue, know that other interests than law and society are being served. That characteristic of them was glaringly portrayed in the Afe Babalola and Dele Farotomi dispute. It’s the Police mismanagement of this dispute that brought the incident to its current disrepute. Any nation whose Policing system is ill is in deep trouble and can hardly make progress in trying to inject truth and Justice into society. It’s the responsibility of the national police to ensure that truth and Justice prevail in society, but in Nigeria, such duty is left to churches and Mosques that are outside the realm of governance. As it stands today, a Nigeria Police officer cannot freely and confidently put his hand on his chest and declare, “I will uphold the Constitution and honor the rights of all to life, liberty, equality, and justice.” When that happens, Nigerian society will start a journey to an eldorado.
The embattled Legal icon, Chief Afe Babalola, in a way, deserves our sympathy in this time of intense difficulty with his ethnic younger brother and professional junior colleague, activist lawyer Dele Farotomi. Last October, the Baba was 95 years old on this earth, while in April, Farotomi was 56 years old. What it means is that Baba had already operated for 45 years on Earth when Farotomi came into this world. As a lawyer, Baba was called to the legal bar in 1963, five years before Farotomi was born, and Baba became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN in 1987, eleven years before Farotomi was called to the bar in 1999.
What it means is that if it were a fight of culture and professional seniority, it would be a mismatch but what is at stake is truth and lies. Baba says Farotomi’s new book, ‘ _Nigeria and its Criminal Justice System_ maligned him and dented his character, and Faratomi insists the book was indeed written to bring out some suppressed truths about an incident. By African and legal norms, in the event of a disagreement like that, and where reason prevails what should follow is to take the matter to the elders or to the court to determine who is telling the truth.
But Baba, who has been in court as a lawyer since 1963, that’s 61 years, instead of going to the court, his familiar terrain, knowing that the matter is a civil case, chose to go to the police for them to go after Farotomi, who was not on the run. Because Baba was not in control of how the Police would handle it, the matter went out of the way in their hands. Abducting Farotomi from Lagos, where his alleged offense was committed, to Ekiti state, where Baba, the complainant, is a resident, brought a fresh leg to the case. If the Police had acted professionally by advising the Baba to approach the law court since defamation is a civil case, both the Baba and the Police as an institution would have been saved from the national and international embarrassment that it has become.
But the Police, acting in the excitement of being sent by both an elder and a legendary lawyer, decided to be overzealous and gave the matter a new image and character that technically worsened the hitherto good name of the complainant they were trying to protect while striving to humiliate Farotomi.
In an African setting, the young can rarely challenge an elder and win unless when it’s obvious that truth and Justice are to suffer if the elder wins. In the same vein, elders are often right in reprimanding the young unless such an act from the elder is selfish, dubious, and unbecoming of his status. An African wise saying on discipline and respect holds that when a child washes his hand clean, he can dine with the elders, and when an elder indulges in undignified behavior, he invites insults and ridicule from even the children. What all this means is that society expects from both the young and the old, a certain level of responsibility at a time.
Until December 3, 2024, many Nigerians saw Afe Babalola as one of the highly respected Nigerians who made money professionally and invested it wisely for many young ones to emulate.
Before December 3, 2024, his life was being seen as glorious and used as a template for young lawyers, young investors, and family planners. But all that is being threatened by the Police handling of the matter thereby over-stressing a man already seated at the departure lounges of his illustrious life awaiting the announcer’s glorious voice.
Baba indeed has acquired an enormous reputation in society to be proud of, and ditto Farotomi, who has carved a niche for himself as a man who stands and fights for truth in society even at the risk of impoverishment or loss of privileges.
Nobody would have antagonized the Baba for seeking justice for a perceived injury from the court. Even if he decided to use his legitimately acquired experience in the sector to influence the court, it would not have impacted him negatively, as it is turning out eventually. Sending Nigeria Police on assignment is as risky as putting fire in a bush and expecting the inferno to stop at a particular boundary. Oftentimes, the Police do their assignment beyond the stipulation and end up compounding the matter. If Nigeria Police had acted professionally in a complaint brought to them by Baba or if he had gone to court straight without seeking Police help, the hullabaloo would have been averted.
The Police who abducted Farotomi from Lagos and forcefully took him to Ado Ekiti may have thought they were pleasing the legal luminary. Even the handcuffing of Farotomi like a hardened criminal in a civil case and for a suspect that is not violent and bringing him so publicly to the court showed police insensitivity to the situation and their ignorance to the far-reaching implications of their actions on them as an institution and on the person they think they were helping to punish the ‘irritant’ Farotomi.
Easily, the most timid and easy-to-use operatives of all security agencies in the country are the Nigerian police. One wonders if self-esteem and professional pride are contained in the Police curriculum at their various training Colleges. It’s obvious that Nigeria Police are cheap and also the most wavering and irresolute in their conduct.
Anytime you see Nigeria Police acting efficiently on any issue, adjust your belt and wait for more something devious is behind it. Nigeria Police is seen as one of the most corrupt Nigerian public institutions not because of the meagre kobo they extort on the road, but more due to their collaboration in the perpetuation of state capture. Their willingness to help the oppressor to tyrannize the people is always manifest notwithstanding that they belong to the low rug of the society and are often the most neglected public institution.
Perhaps why corruption is not abating In Nigeria despite the existence of several legal bodies maybe because the country has no efficient police system. The beginning and end of corruption in Nigeria is with the police; their other brother, the judiciary, is just trying to consolidate what the police are doing.
What is real and developing fast under the watch of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is the instrument of state capture. It’s real and total. It’s something to worry about because, empirically, it always marks the beginning of the end of a regime. The Police is always the willing tool for use for such inordinate and superfluous actions.
It’s even worse for a security outfit that has such controversial records of human rights abuses that include but are not limited to allegations of unlawful killings, especially during protests and operations. Reports of torture, beatings, and mistreatment of detainees. Unlawful arrests and detention of citizens without due process and, of course, the well-established extortion and bribery at checkpoints. The corruption record among members of the Nigeria Police Force has been pervasive.
Operationally, the force has been inadequate in its response to crime and emergencies. Internally the force has not even been able to seriously investigate and prosecute police misconduct. All these are consequences of poor and inadequate
training for police officers and insufficient resources and equipment.
If Nigeria had an efficient and professional police force, it could have averted some high-profile controversies like the #Endsars protest of 2020 that was sparked off by the provocative Police brutality and killings nationwide in an attempt to cause the reform of the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Even the discomforting records of Police human rights abuses should be a thing of concern for a country that is in a democracy. A 2019 Human Rights Report showed that there were 1,476 reported cases of police brutality. In the 2020 Global Corruption Index Nigeria ranked 149th out of 180 countries. According to the National Human Rights Commission records, there were over 5,000 complaints against police in 2020.
In conclusion, what is being advocated here that should attract the attention of the Police leadership, the Police Service Commission, the National Assembly, and the Presidency is to strive to develop a professional police force whose success will be the beginning of the journey for an enduring justice system in our land. At some point in the nation of Venezuela, their Police force was in such an ugly state that the 53rd President of that country since 2013, Nicholas Maduro, had to declare to his people, “Let’s dig deep to build the kind of police force that our fatherland deserves. We need a revolution of the police force here in Venezuela, and I will carry it out without delay, without excuses” Nigeria needs such a move now for a sane and just society of our dreams. God help us.
12th December, 2024.C.E
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