Police Is Your Friend! By Oluwadamilare Ajao Esq.

According to Wikipedia, Community Policing is a strategy of policing that focuses on police building ties and working closely with members of the communities. This is a philosophy of enforcing law and order through the instrumentality of the community residents. The police form a close-knit relationship with residents of the community in order to unravel crimes, safeguard the community, ensure better protection and accountability and ultimately increase confidence in the law enforcement agents. In a nutshell, community policing renews or retains people’s confidence in their law enforcement agents. Effectively, community policing started in the United States of America in the 1970s. It was essential to stamp out corruption, high-handedness, nepotism among the Police. However, the success or otherwise of community policing depends on the harmony and unity forged with the communities. The originators of community policing advocated centralization of powers of the police. Obviously this involves power – sharing among the police and the communities. However, distrust has been the bane of the success of the initiative particularly in Nigeria. The Nigeria Police has severally positioned herself as a friend of the people both suspects and complainants. It is not a secret that most offices of the Nigeria Police Force are adorned with catch phrases such as “Police is your friend”, “Help police to help you”, “bail is free”, “Police is not a debt collector”, etc. perhaps the most laughable of the phrases is the “bail is free” as there are numerous experiences of persons that are languishing in police cells whom were neither denied bail or could not comply with the bail conditions usually the monetary aspect as the Investigating Police Officers are known to demand various – usually outrageous – sums of money as bail. I remember a particular occasion where a supposedly “Christian born – again” female police officer, in a bid to justify the illegal monies, said proceeds of bail are channeled to renovation works in the Police stations. To say the least, I was mortified at such a flimsy reason. I dare to say that it is open secret that the Nigeria Police force is a cash-cow – a moneymaking venture, a racketeer – largely composed of hungry and greedy souls. The reckless abandon with which most officers operate is absolutely uncalled for. It is therefore a comedic irony that armful people who recklessly violate the law expects armless masses to accord them respect and even accept them as friends. Generally, the masses believe any friendship with any police officer usually resort in burnt fingers as such friendship are usually maligned at the detriment of the armless masses. Another bizarre instance is the police conducting illegal raid on supposed “suspected cultists” which is without any exception as police conduct raids into homes, bundle people along the road into the waiting van. Recently, I witnesses a case where fifty – two (52) males and females were arranged before the Lagos State Magistrate Court for belonging to a cult society despite the fact that these suspects were arrested at various scenes and time, even those with valid identity cards were not spared of the horrible ordeal. Then you wonder whose side the Nigeria police take. Various instances of illegal searches conducted on mobile electronics of unsuspecting masses. Yes, this is fine! The Nigeria police, and anyone at that, has power to arrest, without warrant, anyone reasonably suspected of any wrongdoing. However, I believe this provision of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Law is not at large. The trend now is to defy any unlawful search on your person, valuables and properties. These guys (police) even demand for password to access your sophisticated mobile phones instead of demanding for receipts of purchase where it is suspected that such device is a stolen one. Fortunately, I know one police officer – a senior professional colleague, whom to the best of my knowledge, distance himself and remain untainted with the corruption that sleeps with the rest at any given time. Nigeria police is your friend! The Nigeria police continue to enmesh herself in distrust, lies, deceit, professional misconducts and criminal conducts. Masses no longer trust the police to handle their complaints with sincerity of purpose; in fact, police will refuse to embark on any investigation unless they are adequately mobilized. Did you say this is normal? No, this is not normal. It is an abnormality that we (including myself) that we normalize with time. Is the system irredeemably bad? I do not subscribe to that school of thought. There are instances of complainants that metamorphosed into suspects while the real suspect is walking free; unsolved murder cases; suspicious closure of murder cases; suspicious withdrawal of criminal matters without due process; unlawful detention in police cells; are not uncommon with our “best friends”. The Nigeria Police is your friend yet suspects are tortured and forced to make confessional statements during investigations. This is unlawful. The Administration of Criminal Justice Act provides further that such confessional statements shall not be taken under duress, threat or inducement. The operatives of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission once invited a client to their office sometime in 2016 for interaction in respect of a failed deal. Of course, I accompanied my client and monitored his written confessional statement. Despite my presence, the Investigating officer asked my client an irrelevant question which I quickly resisted (my client was almost coerced to answer in the affirmative). You guessed the question right…. Did you attempt to kill the complainant? My client immediately became fearful. Of course, I succeeded to restrain and resist the investigative officer’s further irrelevant questions. This scenario is rampant in Nigeria justice system. But they later became friends, obviously after the usual money handshake. They even became “best” of friends. Perhaps one may even classify them as our “best friend forever”. Now is the era of change spearheaded by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari as adopted as his campaign slogan. The present administration rode on the carefree attitude of the past administration to win peoples’ confidence. And immediately the new administration assumed power, of course, we began to feel the “change” – in good ways and bad ways. In essence, the Nigeria police can albeit slowly but subtly regain the confidence and trust of Nigerians especially the youths as this grade constitutes the bulk of detainees in Nigerian prisons and police detention. The Nigeria Police, again, is doing a lot publicity to revamp her disfigured and disoriented system largely owing to the greediness and professional misconduct of the many bad eggs. All hope is not lost, with sincerity of purpose, the Nigeria police force can regain her lost glory and trust especially when erring officers are punished; utmost respect for the rule of law; proper education and reorientation of the officers especially the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015. Most police officers are ignorant of the provisions of the ACJA 2015 as regards the arrest ¬– with or without warrant, conducting searches, taking confessional statements, investigating genuine alibi, etc. despite that the Nigeria police is used to taking instructions from their hierarchy, centralization of powers would make a lot of sense by involving traditional rulers in the enforcement of law and order in our communities, total overhauling of the Special Anti – Robbery Squad, the Anti – Cultism Unit, etc. I believe, slowly but steadily, the Nigeria police can regain her lost glory, reclaim her place among the masses and truly become the friend of the masses. No to bribery! No to 10% on debt recovery!! No to monetary bail condition!!! No to unlawful detention!!! ]]>