Intersociety Welcomes The Dismantling Of Roadblocks In Southeast Nigeria And Frowns At The Incompetence Of The Police Service Commission

The news filtered in yesterday, 31st day of August 2010 to the effect that the controversial Police roadblocks nationwide, especially in the Southeast Zone were being dismantled.

In Anambra and Abia States, residents and road-users confirmed the exercise, but quickly added that the rogue police personnel might have relocated to city roads, major streets and off-the-scene but Juicy arenas such as major routes to Onitsha Main Market in Anambra State, Ariaria Market in Abia State, among others, to carry on with their well-coordinated extortionist activities.

The effects of these roadblocks have been very catastrophic. The sufferings encountered by residents and road-users are incalculable. While the suspected armed robbers and kidnappers beat the said road blocks and pass freely, the innocent citizens have now become endangered species in the hands of the extortionist police personnel. This has further worsened the strained relationship between the Nigeria Police Force and the Nigerian public especially the residents and the road-users in the Southeast Zone.

In the past 20 months, from January 2009 to August 2010, over 200 lives have been lost to roadblock extortion-inspired road accidents. Between October 2009 and June 2010, over 90 lives were lost in Anambra State alone. In August 2010, over 40 lives were lost on Lagos-Ibadan Express Way in an accident caused by Police roadblock. Scores of lives have also been lost in the hands of Police personnel at roadblocks through the instrument of “bribe-or-you-die” or “killing-at-checkpoints”. Members of the Nigeria’s blue-collar societies have lost over N22Billion to police extortions in the past 20 months.

Universally, the use of roadblocks to check crimes is outdated and it is an attribute of what obtains in a failed State such as the battered Republic of Somalia, where clan war-lords are in-charge; a sort of “gun-for-food” scenario. Crimes are better fought with intelligence, eyewitness, commonsense, modern technology and accurate date base. Corruption itself fathers crime and crime-fighting must rid itself of corruptive tendencies, otherwise it would fail.

Therefore, dismantling roadblocks is not good enough. It is more than that. The over N22Billion forcefully taken from poor Nigerians in the past 20 months, from January 2009 to August 2010 must be accounted for. The proxy-killers of over 200 Nigerians in road accidents must be held to account and those killed under “bribe-or-you-die” circumstances must also be investigated and their killers statutorily sanctioned.

Finally, the manifest incompetence of the present leadership of the Police Service Commission is condemned. Just as one of the few finest achievements of the Second Republic National Assembly of Nigeria (1979 to 1983) was the passage into our municipal law of the African Charter on Human & Peoples’ Rights, one of the few achievements of the Fourth Republic National Assembly (1999 to 2003) was the passage into law of the Police Service Commission Act of 2001.

Its provisions have been adjudged finest provisions ever seen in our body of law, yet the peopling of the Commission, presently, is a tragedy. Other than the Inspector General of Police, the Commission is statutorily empowered to sanction any other Police Officer. Despite numerous representations forwarded to same in recent times, the Commission has remained a lame duck. The Commission used to be feared, envied and respected when the likes of Chief Simon Okeke and Madam Ayo Obe were at the helm of its affairs. But this time around, it is like its membership composition is anchored on, some say, political settlement. It is our renewed call that the Commission should be dissolved and credibly reconstituted. Nigerians with impeccable records should be made its members.

The Police High Command must not use the withdrawal of their personnel, either “temporarily or permanently”; to fuel property and violent crimes so as to be asked back for “business-as-usual”. They must not abdicate their constitutional responsibilities and expect to be salaried or to be paid at the end of every month from the Nigerian tax payers’ funds. The Police High Command should be held liable in the event of the resurgence of these horrendous crimes in any part of Nigeria.

The Nigeria Police Force must ensure that all forms of illegalities afflicting the Force are curbed. The checkpoints should be replaced with patrols, surveillance and intelligence gathering. Even if there are any needs for such check-points, they must be fewer in number, numbered, strategic, well-coordinated and radioed and devoid of corrupt practices.

We wish to commend the leaderships of the US-based Human Rights Watch and London-based Amnesty International, the managements of the Saharareports, the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), Minaj Broadcasting International (MBI), Anambra Broadcasting Service (ABS), Channels Television, Silver Bird TV, African Independent Television (AIT), the Punch, Champion, Guardian, Next, Thisday, Vanguard, Nation, Newsstar, Extranew, Daily Independent and Sun Newspapers and Insider Weekly, Tell, News-watch, Nigerian Newsworld and Tentacle magazines, etc for their priceless contributions to this fierce struggle to re-direct and re-position the dearly Nigeria Police Force. Contributions from Access to Justice, Network on Police Reform in Nigeria (NOPRIN), Anambra CLO, Anambra CD, Hurilaws, Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, as well as those who called us from Nigeria and overseas  are also appreciated.

We also wish to assure those compatriots who feared and still fear that Emeka Umeagbalasi-led leadership of Intersociety might be harmed not to worry because the Heavenly Father commanded us to do what we have done with a firm assurance of his guidance of us at all times. We have also signed a fifty-year covenant with Death in which death will keep off till next fifty-years.

  Signed:

Comrade Emeka Umeagbalasi                Comrade Justus Ijeoma
Chairman                             Head
Board of Trustees                         Publicity Desk
Phone: +234(0)8033601078             Phone:   +234(0)8037114869
Email: botchairman@intersociety-ng.org
Website: www.intersociety-ng.org