Police Story!

POLICE STORY

By Osondu Ahirika

Each time I watch as surviving families of Policemen slain in active duty get cash grants to help alleviate their suffering, my heart bleeds.

This somber event which is almost routine in our nation is sadly, relegated to the background by the more harped view of the Nigeria Police as an incurably corrupt institution. A public enemy number one, as against the mantra of the Police being our friend.

The picture of the Police sold to us, is that of a predator not a protector. An agent of state oppression, deployed by the political class, to subdue the masses and maintain their stranglehold on power.
The Police are also hated by the people, as they are deployed to quell mass protests or demonstrations. This, they often carry out, with brutality and a severe hand. The people therefore, come to see the Police as the very expression of terror and repression.

We are also repulsed by a litany of tales about what evil the Police trades in. Arbitrary arrests. Prolonged detention of suspects without charge. Extortions at Police Checkpoints. Fleecing the public through demand for bribes and bail out fees, even when it is purportedly free. Sometimes, Police officers end up killing their victims in what is thereafter classified as, 'Accidental Discharge'. Truth is, the Police is made to look so terribly bad that, Parents even scold or scare their truant kids by saying, 'I will call the Police for you.' Pronto, the child behaves.
But this isn't  what the Police truly is? I very much disagree with that regressive view of the Police. Rather, I ask myself, what the society will look like without the Police. Have you ever give a thought to that? The Police for me, has never lost her spark. The organization was established, to among other things, primarily, detect and prevent crime.  In more civilized societies, the Police also ensure that, human freedom is safeguarded, as well as offer humanitarian assistance to people in distress, or those afflicted by natural or man made disasters. Therefore, in real concept, the Police is a humanitarian organization.

The problem is that, on the flipside of dealing with outlaws, terrorists, gangs and criminal elements, the Police must be firm, decisive and uncompromising in enforcing Law and justice. Still, they need to have a human face in maintaining Law and order.
The downturn is of course, the fact that, some bad eggs exist in the Force.
Some of them have been caught aiding and abetting crime. Thankfully, the Police also prides in her ability to purge its rank and file of such vile men.

As I watch the widows and kids of slain policemen receive stipends as compensation for their irreplaceable, lost bread winners, I come to a conclusion.
We should reserve praise for the gallant men and officers of the Police Force for the unquantifiable service they offer our nation. Before you finish reading this piece, a Policeman may have been cut down in his prime,  while trying to prevent a crime. As you sit in the cozy comfort of your marbled home, watching movies or enjoying with your family, Policemen are legion, who have been drafted to far flung trouble-spots. Exposed to cold, sunburn, and risking their lives to maintain order and restore calm in strange land, far away from home.

There are many families with absent dads, who are on special duty, far afield from home. If they don't come back maimed or disabled, their remains are brought back in body sacks. The lucky ones who come back whole, live with the trauma of lost colleagues they couldn't save. They are all casualties of a crisis or violence they knew nothing about.
Many policemen have had broken homes. As a fallout of their long absence from home, they are not there to steady the course of the family, and provide much needed leadership for their spouses and children. Folks', Policemen are an endangered specie and need all our support and prayers, and encouragement to do their work. Have you ever imagined what a world without the Police Force would look like? Don't even think of it! Even with the ubiquitous Police presence, see what depraved man can do to fellow man. Murders. Arsons. Acid baths. Manslaughter. Domestic violence. Ritual killings. Rapes. Deadly ethnic, gang and cult wars. Religious killings. Rapes. Abductions. Kidnaps. Assassination. Robberies. Frauds. Dupes. Human trafficking. Baby factories. Suicide missions. Genocides. Muggings. Thugggeries. Child molestation and abuse. Militancy. We can go on and on. It will be a horror filled world. Folks', the Police needs kudos and thumbs up, not boos from us.

Let me end this piece with a true story.

Last December, Sgt. Castro, not his real name, was assigned as a backup, to an Assistant Superintendent of Police on the trail of a criminal investigation. One sad Saturday, their team was ambushed. The A.S.P and two other cops lost their lives in the attack.
Castro escaped after his rifle was taken from him. When he reported at the station, he was humiliated like a common criminal. Disrobed of his Police uniform, detained alone in a special cell, he faced a court martial. The question he couldn't come to terms with or answer his interrogators, was, why he was not killed alongside the others? How come he came back alive?
You see, it is better for a Policeman to lose his life that his lose rifle. That is the extent of their peril. Castro has since been dismissed from the Force for alleged cowardice and compromise in the line of duty. This is a window to how seriously, the Police command views levity on the path of her men and officers. Never mind that they are perpetually ill-equipped and often out-gunned by criminal gangs. Folks', sign up to celebrate our gallant Police officers and not make them objects of caricature in our cartoons and online posts. Do I have believers in the house?