AFTER serving in the regional capacity in Port Harcourt and a greater
part of the eastern region, I was transferred back in January 1995 to
the Lagos headquarters office of my company, an indigenous conglomerate
with over a thousand staff and sixty five branches, spread over the
nation. I was in charge of the group administration office and the
security and police matters come under my jurisdiction. The company was a
production company and we employed all sorts of people, so, once in a
while we find ourselves in different police stations across the land to
settle issues.
The uniform then was a darkish grey on black, in a way, it was referred to as ‘black and black’. The reputation of our Police Force then, was not so favourable; stone faces, foul languages, bullying and deliberate intent to incriminate innocent citizens. Then, like now, you see such notices as “The Police Is Your Friend” and “Bail Is Free”, pasted all over the places but the reality was the opposite. That was the picture of our Police Force then and to cap it all, everywhere you go, you find police check points all over the place, both on major and side streets, doing nothing but harassing innocent motorists and transporters. One needs divine interventioon if a police man stops you for a check and you respond with a frown.
For me, the re-branding of our Police Force truly took off with the effective banning of police road blocks from our highways and roads during the era of IG Mohammed, the immediate past Inspector General of police. Despite protests from various interests groups, the policemen stayed away from our highways and the impact was very positive to our transport system and also, to the Force. Unfortunately, they are beginning to crawl back to our highways again. This is often the case during elections, but after the elections are over, they are reluctant to return to base.
In the past one year, I have had reasons to visit at least three major Police stations in Lagos, unrelated in the matters that brought me to them and spread apart, far and wide by their geographical locations. Basically, I come in as an intervening third party and my starting point is usually the office of the DPO.
From my experience with three DPOs at Elere Agege, Mushin and most recently Ikotun, I can safely conclude that the Police Force is totally re-branded from the levels of the DPOs. It is left to the individual DPOs to let this change trickle down to the rank and file. I believe when this is done, the Force will become truly our friend.
Let me start from Elere, a case which involved a transaction between two parties, because one of the parties had connections to other policemen in the station, he used his influence to put the other party in detention. I came with a lawyer and we went straight to the DPO’s office, a gentleman named Lewi Suleman. Immediately he realised that the action his men took was wrong, he ordered for the release of the detainee and called all parties together where the issues were amicably resolved. The accused was released, no money exchanged hands, we said thank you to Mr. Suleman and left. I am sure the DPO must have forgotten this incident but i left quite impressed.
The second incident took place at the Mushin police station off the Agege motor road bus stop. The DPO there is from the eastern part of the country whose name I cannot recall now. The incident occured early this year. My cousin worked on the generator set of one of the big men around. Unfortunately, the engine failed after fixing. They took the boy to the police station and handcuffed him to a chair. I saw the situation and could barely control my emotions. On inquiry, the officers tried to intimidate me, so, I left and went straight to the gentleman DPO. He swiftly called the OC crime whom he rebuked in my presence and immediately ordered for the release of the boy. He was granted bail, no money exchanged hands except the normal thank you.
The third and most recent one took place at the Ikotun police station. The DPO here is Mr. Haruna Alaba, he testified as the DPO on duty during the Synagogue coroner inquest. Pious, factual and bold, he is yet to recover from the shock of the Synagogue incident. He claimed that most reports by the press on the incident were not factual. He said only those present during the incident can give a true account of the day’s event. On the incident that took me to him, he laid it bare to all parties, in fact, on this occassion, my party was the guilty one and he relayed the message in clear terms, of the consequences if we do not reach amicable settlement. He granted bail accordingly, no money changed hands except the normal thank you.
Incidentally, the three gentlemen I have mentioned here are from the north, east and west of the country, the only unifying factor is that, they are all policemen. I want to use this message to encourage them to keep it up.
So, at the top level, the police is re-branded. How does this trickle down to the other ranks? I will offer some suggestions.
Regular training on inter personal relationship and police obligation towards the citizenry, this should be handled at the DPO levels and planning and budgeting provided for its execution.
Secondly, make police offices more corporate, presentable and friendly. Let it be clean, neat and computerised. Provide basic equipment, a well equipped Police Force is a well motivated Force.
Provide good changing rooms, with each officer entitled to a locker. I saw a female staff changing wears in one of the offices, it did not look decent. separate locker rooms should be provided for men and women.
Salaries and other emoluments must be provided as at when due.
The police officers are our friends, let us build a positive image for them.
Mr. Sunny Ikhioya, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.
The uniform then was a darkish grey on black, in a way, it was referred to as ‘black and black’. The reputation of our Police Force then, was not so favourable; stone faces, foul languages, bullying and deliberate intent to incriminate innocent citizens. Then, like now, you see such notices as “The Police Is Your Friend” and “Bail Is Free”, pasted all over the places but the reality was the opposite. That was the picture of our Police Force then and to cap it all, everywhere you go, you find police check points all over the place, both on major and side streets, doing nothing but harassing innocent motorists and transporters. One needs divine interventioon if a police man stops you for a check and you respond with a frown.
For me, the re-branding of our Police Force truly took off with the effective banning of police road blocks from our highways and roads during the era of IG Mohammed, the immediate past Inspector General of police. Despite protests from various interests groups, the policemen stayed away from our highways and the impact was very positive to our transport system and also, to the Force. Unfortunately, they are beginning to crawl back to our highways again. This is often the case during elections, but after the elections are over, they are reluctant to return to base.
In the past one year, I have had reasons to visit at least three major Police stations in Lagos, unrelated in the matters that brought me to them and spread apart, far and wide by their geographical locations. Basically, I come in as an intervening third party and my starting point is usually the office of the DPO.
From my experience with three DPOs at Elere Agege, Mushin and most recently Ikotun, I can safely conclude that the Police Force is totally re-branded from the levels of the DPOs. It is left to the individual DPOs to let this change trickle down to the rank and file. I believe when this is done, the Force will become truly our friend.
Let me start from Elere, a case which involved a transaction between two parties, because one of the parties had connections to other policemen in the station, he used his influence to put the other party in detention. I came with a lawyer and we went straight to the DPO’s office, a gentleman named Lewi Suleman. Immediately he realised that the action his men took was wrong, he ordered for the release of the detainee and called all parties together where the issues were amicably resolved. The accused was released, no money exchanged hands, we said thank you to Mr. Suleman and left. I am sure the DPO must have forgotten this incident but i left quite impressed.
The second incident took place at the Mushin police station off the Agege motor road bus stop. The DPO there is from the eastern part of the country whose name I cannot recall now. The incident occured early this year. My cousin worked on the generator set of one of the big men around. Unfortunately, the engine failed after fixing. They took the boy to the police station and handcuffed him to a chair. I saw the situation and could barely control my emotions. On inquiry, the officers tried to intimidate me, so, I left and went straight to the gentleman DPO. He swiftly called the OC crime whom he rebuked in my presence and immediately ordered for the release of the boy. He was granted bail, no money exchanged hands except the normal thank you.
The third and most recent one took place at the Ikotun police station. The DPO here is Mr. Haruna Alaba, he testified as the DPO on duty during the Synagogue coroner inquest. Pious, factual and bold, he is yet to recover from the shock of the Synagogue incident. He claimed that most reports by the press on the incident were not factual. He said only those present during the incident can give a true account of the day’s event. On the incident that took me to him, he laid it bare to all parties, in fact, on this occassion, my party was the guilty one and he relayed the message in clear terms, of the consequences if we do not reach amicable settlement. He granted bail accordingly, no money changed hands except the normal thank you.
Incidentally, the three gentlemen I have mentioned here are from the north, east and west of the country, the only unifying factor is that, they are all policemen. I want to use this message to encourage them to keep it up.
So, at the top level, the police is re-branded. How does this trickle down to the other ranks? I will offer some suggestions.
Regular training on inter personal relationship and police obligation towards the citizenry, this should be handled at the DPO levels and planning and budgeting provided for its execution.
Secondly, make police offices more corporate, presentable and friendly. Let it be clean, neat and computerised. Provide basic equipment, a well equipped Police Force is a well motivated Force.
Provide good changing rooms, with each officer entitled to a locker. I saw a female staff changing wears in one of the offices, it did not look decent. separate locker rooms should be provided for men and women.
Salaries and other emoluments must be provided as at when due.
The police officers are our friends, let us build a positive image for them.
Mr. Sunny Ikhioya, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.
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