Kaduna’s deserted observation posts

Several police observation posts were set up by the Kaduna State government along the Kaduna to Abuja road, from which police and other security agents can monitor vehicular movements and any other activity along the road. They were placed not far away from the road and police check points. These structures have partly assisted the […]

Several police observation posts were set up by the Kaduna State government along the Kaduna to Abuja road, from which police and other security agents can monitor vehicular movements and any other activity along the road. They were placed not far away from the road and police check points. These structures have partly assisted the police in stamping out robberies at some notorious spots along the road ,thereby boosting the morale of travellers ,especially traders and partly attracted public outcry as a result of police extortions at check points.   
Inspector General Mohammed Abubakar announced the ban on police check points shortly after his appointment, arguing  that such places were used by some officers to extort monies from drivers.  The IG later introduced motorized patrols and deployed many  teams in armoured vans,  to replace the previous arrangement. Some of the observation posts were even abandoned long before the announcement.
Most of these observation posts located along the road, are now dormant and vandals have removed all the vital items in them,  including  windows, doors and roofing sheets. The police have deserted the buildings , and farmers located close by, use them to store and dry farm produce.
One resident in Kurmin Kare, a village along the road, said the abandoned buildings are now utilized as hideouts by mischief makers mostly at night. He said some were vandalized due to poor management, while others were being used by farmers for storage. “People have no regard for any government property. Those in government ought to have made preparation for the maintenance of the buildings,  in case the police will not use them. People are concerned about the state of these observation points now.”    
The police public relations officer in Kaduna, deputy superintendent Aminu Lawan  said some of the structures were made in 2007,  after the formation of a security joint task force named Operation Yaki, basically for security personnel to stay and watch movements along the road, make calls as well as put their feet up. Others were built in 2009. “We are still using the observation points to stay and make distress calls,  by radio broadcast and monitor movements. We have about ten patrol teams with vehicles attached to them along the road, and each team uses a particular observation post. The teams were stationed at intervals and divided into ‘sectors’, of which if you follow the road at night, you will see each team at work. They were actually built by the state government for the police, but a number of them need repairs. The police don’t use those that are not fit for human habitation, but those that are conducive for us, are being used.”
The observation post at Rijana village, a  few kilometres away from Kaduna had its doors and a window removed, and is being used by local farmers to store shrubs. A  farmer, Malam Habibu, said he has been storing grasses in one of the abandoned building for two years now.  “I sell Tukurwa (grass) used in making ropes in large quantities. I cut down plenty of it and store in a safe place before I take it to the market in Zaria. I have been keeping the grass in this room (pointing at a deserted police post) for almost two years now. I met it in its present state, and no one has come to claim that it belongs to him. I was told that the room was used by the police in the past for shelter. We are ready to leave if the owners come.”
None of the posts along the road is being used by the police, including a makeshift station erected with used freight containers along Bwari-Jere road, some distance  from the boundary with the  FCT. Some of the doors and windows were removed.

The chief of Gidan Busa in Akilibu district Sarki Joseph Madaki said the police post near his town was left dormant over five years ago. “When the police were stationed along the road, I used to work together with them, and they have contributed in reducing crimes especially theft and robberies. People provided them with information about crimes, and they intervened accordingly.
“They were later moved further away to a spot along the road near a private poultry farm. A room was constructed for them, and it was used for only two years before they left. I will be very appreciative, if the police could come back to their posts, because the posts now serve as  a deterrent  to the criminals. We had two police posts here then, including the one near Kurmin Kare, and they helped a lot in addressing crime.”
This reporter travelled along the road to check the conditions of the police observation posts, and found that all were deserted and damaged. The one located in Jarin Dawa, Unguwar Jibo,a  few kilometers away from Jere, which was made from  freight containers, was vandalized and surrounded by thick shrubs . The aluminium roofing sheets were removed at one side,  and there was a tiny bush path beside it, an indication  of activities, or  showing that some people may have been using the place for  particular purposes  at certain times  of the day.

One man who simply gave his name as Peter,  said the place where the police post was erected, used to be frequented by robbers who occasionally waylaid  travellers. “The police helped a lot when they were there.  They must have left because robbery attacks had become  a thing of the past.”
Magaji Ya’u said before the observation post was built at Jarin Dawa, thieves with military-style weapons operated “even during the day,” and because no one had the fire power to confront them, they had the space of attacking their victims. “They usually arrived  in vehicles with guns to block the road ,and this was mostly at night. There were instances, when daytime robberies took place. We could not go to farm when the robbers cordoned-off the area. But when policemen were brought to the place, the attacks reduced and eventually stopped. The police spent about two years there,  and left about three years ago. I haven’t heard of any incident since they left and their office was destroyed.”

It was not only observation posts along the road that were abandoned ,another one in Rafin Guza, near Kaduna town, was  found to be deserted.
A resident, Abba, said the police post was shut around 2011 when Boko Haram members began attacking polices stations and other strategic buildings,  and since then the police only visit the area during their patrols. He said crime has increased in the area and could be attributed to so many factors, including insufficient police presence. “It was at the back of the abandoned police post that a boy recently kidnapped by his cousin,  was hidden. He later died there and was buried in a heap of sand, a  few meters away. It was a week after the boy was buried that the police discovered where he was buried, and exhumed his decomposing body. Three people, including the cousin of the late boy, were arrested.”

This reporter travelled at night along the Kaduna-Abuja road between 8 and 10pm, to see if any of the observation posts is being utilized for the purpose for which it was initially made. There were four police patrol teams stationed at intervals on the lane leading to Zuba from Kaduna, with their vans parked at the side of the road with revolving lights on.  All the teams position themselves in select places, but not near the observation posts. On the other lane, there were three teams stationed near Rijana, Tafa and some kilometres away from Katari, as well as one moving van. They too, were not near the posts. Again, the observation post around the Kaduna-FCT boundary was inactive,  but there was a patrol team near the bridge, close to the Jere-Kafanchan-Abuja junction