Based On A True Life Story

In a the struggle to survive, Victor after the death of his parents, he rallied round some relations including his only brother who gave him part of the money he used to register as an apprentice at a welding workshop, he thought that was the only thing for he to do since he did not have a former education. He was accepted even with the incomplete payment he made, though due to the relationship his brother had with his boss. He became very serious about it and was catching up very fast. However, he couldn’t keep himself and went to impregnate a girl called Rhoda who was handicapped.

Rhoda’s dad who was a retired police officer sent for Victor but he didn’t respond to the call because he said he didn’t want to get married to a disable. That had become the contending issue already.

But on this fateful day, it was the wailing of siren, jumping from police vans – about 3 police vehicles. Some of the policemen were rolling on the ground like in the scenes of those foreign movies we did see. It was an invasion on the compound Victor lived. Fortunately for the police, Victor was at home and he was apprehended. He was handcuffed and there were shootings as they took him away. The whole street was calm, everyone humming and whispering – ‘So this is the kind of person he is.’ Etc. Only did anyone know that it was because of a girl he impregnated whose father was a retired police officer.

Victor was arraigned before Rhoda’s dad in his house. Then he said to Victor, ‘Is this not you, I sent for you, but you refuse to come. Now you are here. Sit down.’ And he sat.

Finally, they came to an agreement; Victor was going to marry Rhoda. Of course, he was allowed to go home that very day. But the news that dozens of policemen came to arrest him had spreads everywhere even up to where he was an apprentice.

The next time he went to work, his boss called him and sat him down. After much admiration, he asked him why he was arrested. Victor plainly and innocently smiled and said it was the father of the girl he impregnated that sent them. The boss who was not smiling before became more serious as he told Victor that he was not expecting Victor to lie to him considering the fact that he had helped him.

When Victor repeated what he had said earlier, his boss became more furious that Victor was still holding the truth from him, lying to his face. He stood up and told Victor that he didn’t want to see him anywhere near his shop. That was how Victor lost that opportunity to have a hand work to cater for himself and his family.

As you read this now, Victor, his wife – the retired police officer’s daughter and their child are living from hand to mouth, with little or no support from anyone; not even from the girl’ father.

Someone would wonder, what if Rhoda’s father had sent just one policeman on mufti on that mission and he quietly with the aid of his gun (a revolver) which he would show to Victor but not bring out in order to make him follow him to the car without raising an alarm; may be by now Victor would have been thinking of owning his own shop.

There are a lot of things that need to be put in place which are also corruption or out of place conducts, in our dear country Nigeria.

Under the Criminal Procedure Act Chapter 80, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 1990, Part 2, suspects are supposed not to be handcuffed except by an order of the Court of Law, Magistrate, or Justice of Peace; or if the suspect is a threat at the moment of arrest to either the security agencies or any other person around. But what do we see every now and then, innocent people being assaulted all in the name of carrying out a search, suspects being handcuffed even when they pose no threat, etc.

What is wrong if a Nigeria police stops someone and says please may I see what is in the bag you are carrying? Please may I see what you have in the boot of your car? Is anything wrong if a policeman does not use his gun at all pointing it at someone telling them to pull-over for a search?

We only see that in countries where there are war and places where there are crises.

Our DSS are very disciplined, I saw a group some days back and their conduct was the same as the ones I saw years ago. The training that is being given to them should be given to the rest of the police force.

We need more discipline in the Nigeria Police Force (NPF). I must commend the efforts of the Inspector-General of Police, both past and present for their efforts to sanitise the police force; most especially Mr Ogonna O. Onovo and the present, Mr Solomon Arase. And want to also plead that the sanitisation should not be only at the head; it should trickle down to every division.

I want to also recommend that our police force officials shouldn’t be taking abroad all the time for trainings because it seemed like a simulation programme where after they have been trained in a virtual environment, they come into the real environment and the impact becomes very little. Rather, the expatriate security personnel should be brought here to the country for those training. They would see more things to train our police for and on - not only to combat crimes but also discipline.

God bless Nigeria, God bless the people of Nigeria, God bless the Nigeria Police Force.

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Articles by Emmanuel Igho Atumen