The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) TV recently aired a documentary under its African Eye series on the efforts of the Nigeria Police to combat the growing menace of kidnapping and other internal security challenges in the country. It was indeed an eye opener.
Watching the programme, it came across that a lot is being done by the police to rid the society of kidnappers but not much credit is being given to them by the general public.
This may be due in part to the fact that reported cases of kidnapping in public domain seem to be growing while fewer cases of police successes in tackling the crime and freeing kidnap victims are known to the public.
This, coupled with the notorious reputation the Force has before an average Nigerian make it very hard to believe that anything good can ever come from the Nigeria Police. But the truth is that our police force is changing for the better. Or put in proper perspective, some elements within the Nigeria Police are doing their level best to make the force serve the Nigerian people better. The growing call for decentralization of the national police or as some would have it, setting up of state police, seems to have galvanized the police high command to come up with strategies and measures to make the Nigeria Police more responsive and responsible in the discharge of its responsibilities to the nation.
Successive Inspectors-General of Police have designed different strategies and programmes to fight crime in the country, albeit with different level of success. Every IGP has set up one task force or another to fight a specific crime prevalent during his tenure. In the present circumstance, the focus is on kidnapping, hence the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) set up by IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu.
The IRT featured prominently in the BBC report as the British public broadcaster followed the Team on some of its missions with remarkable record of success. The particularly notorious axis of evil of the kidnappers; the Abuja -Kaduna expressway was under focus. That, that axis is relatively safe to travel seems to rekindle the hope among Nigerians that our Police can work and work well if properly equipped, well trained and motivated. The IRT seems to show how good the Nigeria Police can be if given all the necessary encouragement to perform.
With all this optimism in the air about the Team, it was with a rude shock that the nation received the news on August 6, that three IRT operatives and one civilian on a covert operation to Ibi in Taraba State to arrest a notorious kidnapper were shot and killed at a military checkpoint by soldiers from the 93 Battalion of the Nigerian Army in Taraba State.
The Team led by Assistant Superintendent of Police, ASP Felix Adolije had successfully arrested the millionaire kidnapper, Hamisu Wadume in his hometown Ibi, and put him in handcuffs and leg chains and transporting him to Taraba Police Command headquarters in Jalingo for further interrogation, when they came under attack from soldiers at a military checkpoint on the road to Jalingo. Three operatives, Inspector Mark Ediale, Sergeants Usman Danzumi and Dahiru Musa as well as a civilian Olajide Owolabi were shot and killed by soldiers under the command of an Army Captain. The soldiers, after killing the policemen later released Wadume who has been on the run since then. The policemen were killed even after identifying themselves to the soldiers.
Expectedly the incident has elicited nationwide outrage with calls for a thorough investigation to bring whoever was responsible to book. Similarly, there have been calls on security agents to fish out Wadume from wherever he is to answer for his alleged crime.
In an uncharacteristic direct attack on a sister security agency, the police not only accused the Army of premeditated murder of the police operatives but also accused the soldiers of colluding with Wadume and demanded they produce the kidnap kingpin.
From the evidence in public domain so far, it does appear that the Army have questions to answer. But whatever evidence out there in the open cannot be enough to pronounce guilt on any of the accused persons until a thorough investigation is conducted. The outcome of ongoing joint investigation by Defence Headquarters into the incident will certainly unravel what actually led to the August 6 shootings, the killings, who was responsible and if at all there was any collusion between Wadume and the military or even the police in the area.
But while investigation is going on, it is pertinent to ask the following questions:
Why were the soldiers given orders to shoot the plainclothes police officers even after they had identified themselves?
And if they did not identify themselves and refused to stop at the checkpoint as the Army were insinuating, why didn’t they?
And in the unlikely scenario that the policemen actually refused to stop and failed to identify themselves at the military checkpoint, why did the soldiers shoot to kill them when they were not under attack or threat of attack by the policemen?
Was the IRT aware of the presence of the military on that road and in that axis and what effort was made to inform the military leadership in the area of their mission?
What is the level of synergy between the various security agencies in matters like this, especially in volatile areas in the midst of on going fight against Boko Haram insurgents?
Is there any truth in the allegation that some elements within the police and Army in the area are actually working surreptitiously for Madume, the kidnap kingpin, and are actually on his payroll?
These are some of the issues to be determined by the investigative committee. Arresting the suspects and punishing the culprits are just one aspect of finding a lasting solution to what is now becoming the normal in inter-security agencies relation especially between the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police.
It is no secret that there exist a cat and mouse relationship between the two security agencies with Army personnel often claiming superiority over police personnel. More often than not, officers and men of the armed forces see themselves as beyond the control of police authorities even in matters that are within the purview of the police.
This age long supremacy battle is the fallout of long years of military incursion into governance and needs to be addressed decisively by the military high command. It also affects military/civilian relationship. Just as the military has set up a department to handle their affairs with the rest of the society, we strongly advocate a similar approach to inter agency relationship with other security agencies especially the police.
There should be a conscious effort by the military high command to foster a good working relationship with the police. Such will prevent unnecessary clashes and loss of lives like the one witnessed in Ibi. While the leadership of the Nigeria Police should also establish a similar approach, a lot is expected from the military in this regard.
And as pointed out by a former Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Abubakar Tsav, a lot of these clashes could be prevented if arm bearing officers are made to account for each bullet shot and the justification for it. He was of the opinion that this could prevent a misuse of weapons by any trigger happy cop or soldier. We agree with him.
Tsav also decried what he described as the attitude of each of the security agencies trying to outdo each other and prove to the President and Commander-in-Chief that they are working. This, he said sometimes lead to unintended and unnecessary clashes between them. Could this then be responsible for the Ibi, Taraba military/police clash. Could both sides be sending a message to President Muhammadu Buhari that “we are working?”
Whatever was the motive, it’s about time a stop was put to this shameful behavior. It does no credit to the image of both the Nigerian Army and the Nigeria Police especially with the good work they are actually doing fighting the Boko Haram terrorists and the kidnappers.
We can’t afford to lose any of our gallant officers, especially in unnecessary battles again, enough is enough.
