Mike Wabali
Policing is big business in Port Harcourt and other parts of Rivers State, yielding heavy daily returns for policemen deployed on the roads and their superior officers.
At every corner of any busy road in Port Harcourt, policemen stand in unusual manners extorting money from taxi and bus drivers and children whose parents sent on swift errands. Those who fail to pay are molested with some having to pay the ultimate price with their lives.
From Rukpoku to Bori Camp back gate, Obiri Ikwerre bridge axis of the East-West Road down to Elele-Alimini; Eliozu to Airforce or to Artillery; NTA road to Choba; from Trans-Amadi to Artillery; Mile 1 down to Azikiwe road; Ada-George to Borokiri etc etc, it seems like there is a war going on.
More intriguing is the fact that these policemen do not in any way attempt to search vehicles they stop. The taxi or bus drivers squeeze 50 to 100 Naira into their palms and they are allowed to go. Those who fail to pay are then delayed unnecessarily or bullied and molested. Those who try to manoeuvre have their vehicles destroyed by smashing of side mirrors or windscreens or are shot at.
Those of the East-West Road are more brazen and more peculiar in their extortion. According to a driver who plies Port Harcourt to Ahoada, paying policemen on duty N100 per trip will determine whether they will inform you of an on-going robbery or not. Those who refuse to pay are denied such information leading to their falling victim to robbers along the East-West road.
To confirm whether his claims had any iota of truth in it, I asked 2 other drivers who confirmed that there is an element of truth in what the driver said.
This is despicable given the fact that these policemen are paid by the federal government to protect and defend lives and properties, but are rather forcing citizens to pay for the services that the federal government has already paid for.
The police have turned the arms which the government provided for the protection of the citizens into personal weapons of terror and have used same to oppress the same citizens that they are meant to protect.
Extortion is not legal and bribery is still a crime. How a law enforcement agency engage in such openly without any form of consequences beats my imagination.
In March, a policeman shot a driver dead at Rumuokoro and fled the scene like nothing happened. The driver simply identified as Bright from Abia state was the breadwinner of his extended family. His wife had put to bed 3 months before the unfortunate incident.
However, until now, there has been no news about the arrest of the killer policeman. The Rivers State Police Command in a press statement denied knowledge of the killer cop, saying that he was not serving under the command.
The Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, in May, awarded the sum of N30 million to the family of a young man who was tortured to death in police detention. Up till now, it has not been clear as to what his crimes were. The police command said that they will appeal the High Court ruling.
Let’s begin to grade the Police stations that are leading in bribe-taking in Port Harcourt. Grade A: Mile one Police station, Ozuoba Police station, Choba Police station.
Grade B: Rumukoro police station, Mile 3 police station, Borokiri Police station, Elekahia police station.
Grade C: the Rumuagholu police station aka SARS office who has a specialized spec for yahoo Boys and any other person who dresses well.
A rough estimate of returns made to senior police officers by those they stationed on the roads daily run into tens of millions. Despite that, the Rivers State Police Command at Moscow road is miserably unkempt and reeks of offensive odours with lawns barely mowed.
Inside the command headquarters, there is a disaster waiting to happen: an electric pole is on the verge of falling to the ground. Despite the huge money accruing to the command from their street trade, they have not been able to effect a change of the pole until perhaps when it destroys something. Juxtapose that with what is obtained at the 6 Division of the Nigerian Army or the 115 Special Operation Group of the Nigerian Air Force and see the extent to which the police have decayed.
Why are the masses being maimed by the same people who swore to protect them?
With rising crime made possible by heavy economic stagnation, the police have turned to the people for their daily bread while neglecting their role in national building. Take away the guns that they wield and citizens will bravely challenge them. And just like the SARS menace, the Police authorities are not doing anything about it, rather they are allowing time to heal wounds caused daily by the brutality of the police on the Nigerian people.
The police should be reformed and discipline instilled in the heart of the officers. It is not just a Rivers State issue but a Nigerian issue and should be tackled head-on.
