By Okechukwu Nwanguma
The current case under discussion is nothing new, nor is it anything compared to the things that have been happening with many reported to police authorities without any action. So, if they do anything to cover up or shield anyone, don’t be surprised.
There is a perverse system of returns within the Nigeria Police Force whereby returns are regularly made to senior officers at the top by subordinate officers from proceeds of criminal policing activities.
For example, mass raids may be carried out and all the arrested persons are taken to the station and detained and each made to pay for ‘bail’. They say this is a means of raising funds to maintain police stations and carry out basic police operations since police stations receive very little or no funds from the police budget. But it is also to satisfy the greed of some unscrupulous officers who turn the instruments of their authority into means of exploitation and money making.
The tactical teams are very notorious for making illicit money in millions through kidnapping people across the states- in the name of arrest. They frame up people sometimes, detain, torture and extort money from them for bail. They take them to ATMs or to their banks and make them withdraw money and hand over to them. They also maintain POS agents through whom they transfer money to third party account numbers to evade detection or linkage to the criminal act of extortion. They often deny when confronted and ask for evidence, knowing that they have covetheirtracks. But they are not always lucky. We’ve caught some and made them refund
We have evidence of cases involving many innocent people who were arrested in one state and transported to another state and held hostage in a police cell for weeks and months, tortured to make confessions and extorted of millions and dispossessed of their properties- cars, expensive jewelleries, other goods and buildings confiscated and converted by the operatives
There’s a particular case in Enugu where the accused was extrajudicially executed and his money and property including houses taken over and converted by operatives. A former IGP was fingered as a beneficiary of the rent collected from one of the buildings.
Because these rogue officers make returns as far up to the IGP, it’s difficult to get the IGP who benefits from such proceeds to hold the rogue officers to account.
It will be important to find out what happened to the money recovered from the Offa robbers whose gang leader- said to be in possession of the money- was executed.
Amnesty International reports documenting some of these cases as well as petitions by several local human rights groups- including Rulaac – reporting these incidents to the IGP have received no attention.
Therefore, it is not that Police authorities don’t know that these things happen. They can’t do anything because they benefit.
Again, the current case under discussion is nothing compared to the things that have been reported to police authorities before now. So, if they do anything to cover up or shield anyone, don’t be surprised.
Nwanguma is RULAAC executive director. He writes from Lagos
