It is generally a good thing to give a place a fresh coat of paint, but at the Abuloma Police Outpost in Port Harcourt this has turned into a scandal.
On Thursday, October 15, a video was seen in which supposed members of a cult group were celebrating the completion of a renovation at the outpost, something that they are said to have financed.
Reports regarding the video name the group as De Norseman Klub International, which is also known as the Vikings. In the video, they can be seen posing with police officers and shouting slogans in front of the facility.
When the video became viral, the Rivers State Police Command took immediate action. It carried out a query and removed both the Deputy Police Officer in the Abuloma Division and the officer in charge of the outpost, and Commissioner Olugbenga Adepoju then instructed a thorough investigation to be carried out.
The command also issued a warning that police facilities must never be used as a stage by criminal organisations seeking public recognition.
The response was correct but still insufficient. The scandal does not lie in the paint; it is in the fact that a group which the police themselves refer to as suspected cultists got to the door and the cameras, with uniformed officers alongside them.
The command maintains that it welcomes legitimate community support for police facilities since the Police Act permits this. That is precisely the loophole. It is simple to accept a donation and very difficult to refuse it when the donor in question is a danger.
Since their main concern is creating fear, having a photograph taken with the police is a public relations advantage. Gratitude then becomes a form of leverage, and when residents see officers posing with suspected cultists, they may quietly work out for themselves who really controls their area and, as a result, stop reporting crimes.
In Nigeria, many police stations have to rely on outside assistance, and that reliance is the weakness which such groups can take advantage of.
The inquiry has to deal with three questions: who financed the work and who gave its approval? What did the officers on duty know? Had the group had any previous contact with the post? The findings should be made public, not kept secret.
Donations made to police facilities should also go through a documented and thoroughly checked channel, and governments at all levels should provide adequate funding for outposts so that assistance from the wrong people is not needed.
The police outpost is owned by the community it serves; if a cult is able to repaint it, then the public has the right to inquire as to who else possesses the keys.
