NEWS > 01 January 2007

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Nigerian Tribune - Ibadan,Nige
01 January 2007

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EDITORIAL: POLICE, ACCIDENTS A

AT the time Mr. Sunday Ehindero became the Inspector-General of Police, the image of the force was at a very low ebb. On assumption of office, Mr. Ehindero knew that he had a daunting task in his hands. He demonstrated a dogged determination to bring about a purposeful change. He instructed that his predecessor, Tafa Balogun�s �Fire for Fire� slogan be replaced with �To Serve with Integrity�. He directed that checkpoints, which had been converted to extortion points, be dismantled in all parts of the country. Unfortunately, for Ehindero, the rot in the police was not as easily reversible as he thought it was. He has had cause to lapse into self-pity while addressing officers of the police force.

HIS anguish was that his directive that checkpoints be dismantled was ignored and he sounded helpless. Even the directive of the Federal Executive Council that checkpoints should disappear from the highways was only partially complied with. The initial purpose of the checkpoint was to preempt crime and intercept criminals in transit. The perversion of this purpose turned the checkpoint into an extortion point. It is the bountiful returns from the extortion point that has made it a permanent feature that now defies all authorities.

WE are not oblivious of the efforts being made against all odds to shape up the Nigeria Police and boost their image. This is why we feel duty-bound to draw attention to acts or incidents that are capable of making nonsense of these efforts.

ON Sunday, December 17, 2006, some members of The Redeemed Christian Church of God were returning from the church�s annual convention in an18-seater bus. They arrived in Ibadan safe and sound and the Christian faithful were already thanking God for journey mercies. They were less than 500 metres to the point of disembarkation when their bus was stopped at another police checkpoint at Challenge, Idi-Odo area of Ibadan. They had, of course, encountered many on their way from Lagos and the bus driver had at every point made the obligatory payment. But at this last point, the driver said he had run out of smaller denominations of naira notes and pleaded that he be allowed to go. This was not acceptable to the policemen. He was ordered to park and he promptly complied. Having no option to explore, the driver gave one of them a N200 note and asked for his change. The change was not forthcoming and an argument ensued. It was in the course of this that an articulated vehicle crashed into the parked bus.

ACCORDING to eyewitnesses, the bus somersaulted and many of the passengers were thrown out. From available reports, five of the passengers died on the spot while two others died at different hospitals the following day. Immediately the accident occurred, the policemen disappeared.

APPARENTLY putting on an act, the Oyo State Command of the Nigeria Police denied the involvement of its men in the accident. The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr. Moore Akinmoladun, was quoted as saying that the scene of the accident was 10 metres away from what he called the pin-down point where the policemen were. His own account was that some passengers were disembarking from a bus when �a trailer rammed into it from behind�. He even claimed that there was no death but only injuries sustained by some of the passengers.

THAT accident was not the first of its type. It was a virtual replay of the one that happened on Ring Road, also in Ibadan, about two years ago. Many lives were also lost and as it happened on that fateful Sunday, the policemen ran away.

THE vain attempt of the police spokesman to deny established facts amounts to a disservice to the Nigerian public and an insult to the families of the victims. It is rather disturbing that the desperation to extort N20 now supersedes all other considerations, including the safety of lives. Many families have been thrown into mourning. The future of many children must have become uncertain because of that incident. Yet the police in Oyo State were trying to cover up what was glaringly obvious. It is worrisome that instead of punishing misconduct in a disciplined force what is being created is a culture of impunity.

WE appreciate and share the aspiration of Mr. Ehindero to make the Nigeria Police to serve with integrity. To achieve this objective, he has to check the duplicitous conduct of some of his field officers. Integrity cannot be built on duplicity.

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Article sourced from

Nigerian Tribune - Ibadan,Nige01 January 2007

EDITORIAL: POLICE, ACCIDENTS A

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Nigerian Tribune - Ibadan,Nige
01 January 2007