After leaving office as FCT Police Commissioner, I queued up for food at Law School

Thank you very much. Since I retired from the Nigerian Police Force, precisely on June 7, 2007, I have been a very busy man, I like being busy. I finished my LLB in 1997, but I couldn’t go to the Law School because of the nature of my job, I had a very tight schedule […]

Thank you very much. Since I retired from the Nigerian Police Force, precisely on June 7, 2007, I have been a very busy man, I like being busy. I finished my LLB in 1997, but I couldn’t go to the Law School because of the nature of my job, I had a very tight schedule because my job was very demanding. So immediately I retired from service, I had to go the Law School in Bwari. I applied and got admission and, to make sure I didn’t leave any stone unturned, I had to move into the hostel. I was in the hostel like any other student, queued up for food like any other student, did tutorial and every other thing together and, God on my side, I made my papers at the first sitting and I was called to bar in 2008. So you can see that I never rested at all.

And again, I believe in the principle of planning ahead, thinking ahead and working ahead. You have to be creative in life. How do you add value to your life and contribute to human progress? On the basis of that, I incorporated a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), the Foundation for Peace and Security Education (FOPSE), which aims and objectives are to inculcate those values that will promote business security. You see, in Nigeria today, people have seen violence as a legitimate means of achieving goals. People think they can achieve goals through violence. That is why whenever motorcyclists have any problem with other people, they mobilize and attack them. You see, the culture of violence and militancy has been imbibed in us and I felt violence is inimical to progress, it is sinful and destructive. When you are violent in nature, you don’t reason articulately because anger and emotion control you. So,  I felt, having served the country for 35 years, I should use my experience and knowledge and contribute. We formed the NGO on how to inculcate the values of peace and non violence through mediation. We can resolve our issues through mediation and dialogues without resorting to violence. Religious differences, economic differences, land dispute or whatever differences. Man was not created to be a violent person. We can resolve our differences without resorting to a fight. In law, it is called Alternative Dispute Resolution ( ADR).

For instance, if the policeman goes to a riot scene to maintain law and order, he would be killed. Look at what happened a few days ago in Ogun state. An Assistant Commissioner of Police was murdered because policemen went to contain a riot situation. But they were not party to the conflict. They went there to make peace. And other than being appreciated, he was murdered. So the public needs to understand that they have a duty to contribute towards the peace and security of their country. Some of us are not bothered about security issues, we are so complacent.

As a retired police officer and now as a lawyer, how do you react to  Amnesty International’s report that the typical Nigerian policeman is trigger-happy.  For instance in the last year alone, over 1,000 civilians were killed by  policemen . How do you react to this?

 For me, as a retired CP, I don t feel comfortable. I don’t feel good about it because whether serving or retired, police is my constituency.  I still enjoy the privileges of being a policeman. I am not happy that such allegations are being made. Because, like I said earlier, democratic policing is policing the people for the benefits of the people. When the police are effective, you have improved security and when they are not, you have insecurity and the people suffer. The police and the public should work in cooperation and harmony. It is unprofessional and unethical for any policeman to kill anybody unlawfully. Life is sacred and nobody should be killed unjustly.

Although the police denied the report by Amnesty International, maybe they should look at it again. Maybe they should develop a mechanism that would check such incidents and also prevent such occurrences. We cannot just keep quiet and wait for other people to come and tell us that what we are doing is wrong. I think the police should have a mechanism where they can check these things internally, without waiting for the Amnesty International to come and identify them because it exposes us to the world. They will send these things all over the Internet which would circulate around the world. So, my advice is that the police should have an internal mechanism where they can check these things and bring any offending officers to book.

 If a child behaves badly and you don’t tell the child to make sure he is corrected, then others will not learn from it. So if the police identify such persons, the police will never hide them. I am confident in the police, the Inspector General and the management team. For instance, when I was in the service, I used to tell my officers to treat others the way they want their brothers to be treated wherever they are. If you don’t want your brothers to be brutalized and extorted, don’t do same to other people when you are serving. See all the people you are serving as your brothers. The golden rule says you should treat others the way you want to be treated. So, don’t extort, but  do your job according to the law because the law is there to guide you in your duty. Nobody is above the law. So I feel unhappy because those are not complementary report. They are not encouraging and they don’t speak well of the police. I am sure the police authorities will take necessary action to see if the allegations are true and to fish out those who did the offences and take appropriate action because that will boost the public confidence and trust. Internationally, today, democratic policing is the accepted way of policing, which is based on the protectionof human rights and not its abuse. In democratic policing, you police with the democratic rights of the citizens. So officers should know that they are not to brutalize the populace.

As a lawyer now, seeking justice in the court is slow and cumbersome and some say that is what motivates the police to kill suspects even before they are charged to courts. What do you say to this?

You see, justice delayed is justice denied and justice rushed is justice crashed. You don’t rush justice and you don’t delay justice. There must be a balance. If you rush justice, it will crash and if you delay it, it would crash. So, the point is patience. Our courts, too, should try to speed up the administration of justice because it would help. The police don’t just kill at will. It is not professional and we don’t allow that. It also shows that our society is primitive. Why will you just kill a policeman because he was doing his job?  His own is to detect crime. The society and the courts should appreciate this. The police, too, have a right to their own lives too. Extra-judicial killing is not encouraged by the force; it is unethical and unprofessional.

The police order allows policemen to shoot suspects

The  law says, and even the constitution provides, that if a man commits murder or even armed robbery, arson and he takes to his heels and there is no way you can apprehend him, the law allows the police to use firearm to maim him with the view to arresting him, not to kill him. The essence is to prevent his escape from justice, but not just on any flimsy excuse like when you flag a driver down and he doesn’t stop, the law doesn’t allow you to shoot him. The law allows you to use firearms in certain conditions in a riot, for instance, after warning them to disperse lawfully.

How did you handle extra-judicial killings during your tenure as the commissioner of police, like the “Apo Six”  saga?

It was the “Apo Six” that brought me to the FCT.  The case created a lot of image crisis for the police, so I was brought in to come and do some kind of damage control. When I came in, the policemen were even afraid to wear their uniforms and go out because they were afraid of being attacked.  The public, especially, the Igbos lost confidence in the police. They saw them as their enemy and to build up this confidence, I was sent in. So when I came, I went to Apo to address the entire community on the need for all of us to work together. We are not here to brutalize and kill anybody. And after that  I set up a committee which included Igbo officers and it went okay.

Still on when you were in service, how did you treat your officers who were involved in extra-judicial killings?

When I have any situation, I invite the family of the victim and they will sit with the police to investigate what happened and, if I discovered what happened, I charge him to court or ask the victims’ family on the way forward. Like our Muslim brothers who will say “let’s leave everything to Allah. If it is the will of Allah for the man to die, then leave it to Him.” In that case, I will ask the policeman that even when the family says this, we have to appease the family; we have to make sure that the bereaved families are not left like that. So, for me, I will investigate the case and if the officer is indicted, he will be charged to court. But if the family says they don’t want to go to court, we’ll still let the court hear it and, if you do that, it will serve as a deterrent to others that such is not how to behave.

There is this issue of police defending their colleagues who engage in extra-judicial killings. There is the case in Nyayan where a policeman killed a civilian and since then the public has not heard anything about the case. Why is this so?

I don’t think so. I watch the scenario on the television when the commissioner John Haruna condemned the act and he said that anybody who is indicted in that act will be prosecuted. All these things are rumours and speculations. No policeman who has the fear of God in him will defend a criminal act like murder.

Don’t you think the public formed this opinion about the police because whenever such extra-judicial killings occur, the police authorities usually come out to say they will investigate the killings but that is usually the end of the matter, nothing happens after that?

Maybe, like John Haruna told the world that the officer who killed the man would be prosecuted, I think they will do so. And also, when that kind of incident happens and the police investigate, the result of the investigation should be made public for all to see. That will allay the fears and doubt in the minds of the public. But no police officer who is worth his salt will come out to protect a murderer.

The issue of reforms and consistent training-on-the-job is lacking in the police force and even graduates who are expected to have character and morality tend to change when they join the force. They start doing all sorts of things, extrajudicial killings and all?

You see, the issue of extrajudicial killings is not a policy of the force. The force doesn’t allow or support it. In every situation or institution, there are always bad eggs. There are very good police officers who have the fear of God in them, just like there are the bad ones. Like every other institution, but then, the police will fish them out. That is why discipline is central to the force. I am sure that the police will look at the Amnesty report and the police will deal with the offenders.

What do you think is the way forward in situations where citizens see the police as enemies?

When the people see the police as a threat, there will be no security and lives would be endangered. The way forward is that the police should build confidence and trust through their actions by performing their duties in line with democratic norms. They should adopt the principle of democratic policing. This principle should be adopted by all the police commands across the nation. They should also adopt the training the trainer’s policy. The police should also adopt into its curriculum, the principles of policing in a riot situation in a manner that will ensure that no lives are lost; that people are not killed unjustly while policing riot situations. The police should also see the civilians as part of themselves. There should be no distrust and fear. And to improve the image of the police, officers and men should restrain from attitudes that bring disrepute to the force, there should be an attitudinal transformation of the officers.

It has been advanced that the reason why the police perform below expectation is because of the low morale and lack of equipment with which to combat crime, salaries and arrears are not paid and welfare package is not encouraging. What is your take on this?

Actually, these factors are frustrating. When I work and I cannot feed and take care of my family because I don’t get salaries, all these things can frustrate anybody not just the police because everybody wants to live a comfortable life style. There is what is called the stick and carrot policy. Promotion and encouragement on the job are effective motivating factors for the police. Training is also very important in police business. A police man may not know what to do at the scene of crime if he lacks training. I believe the police should spend more on training and equipment. Training has rotten away in the Nigerian police, so the police should put the necessary infrastructures in place to train the officers and men. Policemen too should be willing to learn and not see training programs as punishments.

What do you think is responsible for accidental discharge among policemen?

Accidental discharge is caused by mainly two factors. One is poor training. When an officer who is not properly trained on how to handle arms is given a gun, he handles it wrongly and in that case the officer shoot. He doesn’t know when to use his arms and, therefore, doesn’t show restraint on how to use his firearm. Another thing is that most times, the policemen allow their emotions anger to take over. In fact, the police need to inculcate into their training programme what is called emotional intelligence. It involves the ability to detect other people’s behaviour, and how not to use it to influence your actions. When you allow your emotion to control you, you commit beastly acts.