It is funny how one can be alive one minute and be stone-dead the next minute in a country where the welfare and security of citizens are supposed to be the primary objective of the government.
There is a kind of morbid humour in the speed with which life could be extinguished like a fickle flame in Nigeria. When the killer is an agent of the state, it is wholly incomprehensible.
It has been four days since Christmas swiftly became calvary for the family of 41-year-old female lawyer Omobolanle Raheem. On December 25,2022,while returning from a church service with her family,her life was fatally cut short by Drambi Vandi, a trigger-happy Assistant Inspector General of Police attached to the Ajiwe Police Station.
Mrs. Raheem’s death has rattled many Nigerians and further soiled the image of the Nigerian police which has hardly been rosy in the eyes of many Nigerians.
Mrs. Raheem’s death also has many Nigerians wondering about the value of their lives in their own country and just how quickly their lives can come to a shuddering end.
A country where death can be dished out so nonchalantly on a Christmas morning by an agent of the state must be roundly alarmed. The authorities here in Nigeria must do more.
Nigeria is infested with crimes and criminals. Surging insurgency has further caused a horror situation to flare into a full nightmare for those who keep the peace .For the police, the situation is an almost impossible one.
Poorly funded, equipped and motivated,the supposed friendship the police has with Nigerians is a largely strained one. The friendship has always been one stained with suspicion. Trigger-happy policemen have made it so over the years.
The chilling effect it has had on police-civilian relations and efforts to build a safe and crime-free country is only better imagined.
It appears the Nigerian police is stuffed with many officers who simply should not be there, men and women who are deeply unstable and should be elsewhere.
When those who should rein in corruption become corrupt themselves,there is a problem. An almost insoluble problem exists when those who should rein in murderers become murderers themselves.
In 2020,the protests that shook the foundations of the country, threatening historical injustices committed by the police, were directly a result of the high-handedness of the police.
Constant evaluations and reevaluations must be carried out by men of the Nigerian police to weed out and rid the police of the men who have become dangerous to the people they are supposed to protect. This could save many lives.
The funding available to the police must also be improved upon so that the men who staff the force will continue to get the training and upgrade they need to perform optimally and cut out fatal mistakes.
The funding must also ensure that their welfare is improved.When people work under almost impossible conditions,there is no telling how much danger they could quickly become.
Today, Nigeria is surrounded by enemies – those who would rather the country ceases to exist. To fend off these criminals while resisting their advances, Nigeria needs their security agents to band together and work optimally.
Justice for Mrs. Raheem, ASP Vandi and Nigerians as a whole is that long-lasting reforms are effected within the police force so that Nigerians can enjoy a country where the police is working tirelessly to promote peace and security.
Kene Obiezu,
keneobiezu@gmail.com
