IG ONOVO: HISTORY IS WATCHING, AND RECORDING
All in all those who thought, or who were inspired to project such thinking, made it look like if given the chance, Onovo would be the first and last name in police efficiency. That is why, some of them even went on to say, both the authorities and his peers feared giving him the chance, […]
All in all those who thought, or who were inspired to project such thinking, made it look like if given the chance, Onovo would be the first and last name in police efficiency. That is why, some of them even went on to say, both the authorities and his peers feared giving him the chance, in reference to the delayed retirement of his predecessor, Mr. Mike Okiro. Again etc, etc.
Well we’ve had Mr Onovo as IG for close to seven months now. In that period there has been at least three events that challenged his tenure and of course his (fabled), media-reported reputation. In order of occurrence there was the so called Boko Haram affair which happened in August of last year, just weeks after the appointment of Onovo as IG; there was also the Jos crisis which happened only last month; the third event happened only last Wednesday when the media reported that about 50 armed mobile policemen stormed the office of the erstwhile Attorney-General of the federation Mr. Aondoaaka.
In all three events the role of the police was at best a subject of very heavy criticism by those who care about rule of law and sanctity of human life. At worst Onovo’s men were indicted as directly responsible for most of the cold blooded murders that occurred where lives were lost. In the case of the last of the three events where police invaded Aondoaaka’s office, the question to ask is : What were the police looking for? To be sure, the former AG is nobody’s favorite public officer; certainly not this columnist’s; but to have 50 armed policemen invade his office suggests a high security issue that cannot be ignored; and the fact that the police moved in minutes after the man was redeployed to another ministry equally suggests that whatever the police were looking for, they knew Aondoakaa had it all along. The resultant impact of this on those who care to think about it is that once again the police command is rendering itself available for political manipulation, instigation and an instrument of political persecution. The only likely explanation could be that the police were probably after the controversial resignation letter that ailing president Yar’adua was said to have written; if so, was that the only way they can get it? Even so what was the business of the police in all this? Who sent the police there in the first place? Onovo definitely need to explain this!
The second event is that of the Jos crisis; even though this has become a subject of contentious debate in which the truth is being buried, the indictment of the police, if only in their inability to secure lives and property and to establish peace, cannot be denied. The police were so hopelessly overwhelmed, and in some instances compromised, that the army had to order their men off the streets in order for the army to be able to stop the escalating violence. Again this occurred under the watch of a new police IG that has everything to prove; so far he has offered no explanation to the nation as to what the role of his men was in the violence. Even the redeployment of the former Plateau state commissioner of police whose terrible unprofessional public remarks definitely amplified the violence, raised more questions than answers. Was redeploying the man to special duties a punitive measure? If it was what was his offence? The IG, the government and other interested parties might continue to evade such obvious questions, but evading questions would never be a substitute for honest answers; and like an open wound, the questions would remain open.
But by far the most serious indictment of the police under Onovo is the TV footage that was shown on Aljazeera TV last week. Those who saw the footage were shocked beyond belief by the brutality displayed by the Nigerian Police. Even in Israel which holds the record for police brutality and extra-judicial killings, what the Aljazeera TV showed was unheard of. Children as young as 12 to 14 years old were brought out and shot at point blank range; handicap children, some of them on crutches were not spared. Amid the gunshots that terminated the lives of those helpless victims, could be heard one particularly sick police officer screaming at his colleagues to “Get (aim at) the heart, get the heart” of the victims.
Did Onovo see that most revolting display? If he did, what is his explanation? Of course we heard that the House of Representatives is to investigate the issue; but has the House, especially in the last three years successfully investigated anything? The only noticeable success about those fellows is their personal fortune; such “mundane” issues as extra-judicial killings are of very little interest to our honourable members, unless of course there is the possibility of cutting a deal with an interested party in the killings!
In any case the police force owes it to Nigerians to investigate this brutal crime perpetrated by its members in the 21st century. IG Onovo need not be scared of being indicted, at least in this particular instance; he barely had time to settle down before the Boko Haram crisis broke out; and even more comforting for him, the substantive Nigerian President it was who gave the unqualified directive to the security agencies to deal mercilessly with the Boko Haram members—and then left the country!
Only God knows how or why a president could give such an order without having all the facts of the case at his disposal; but it happened and now the whole world, that was otherwise only guessing and speculating, now knows the extent of the crime that was committed by the police. Now what? Onovo must ensure that when, and not if, nemesis begins to claim its targets (some say it has already started at the highest level of governance), he has a convincing explanation. As the situation now is, he is proving to be best from the bottom, contrary to all the hype and media propaganda that proceeded his assumption of office.