Our policemen keep dying so cheaply in the hands of gunmen because of the total disregard for policing guidelines. Police work is beyond holding AK47, it requires watertight common sense. In the last few months, no fewer than 10 policemen have been gruesomely killed by gunmen. First were those attached to Sen Ifeanyi Uba, yesterday more fell when gunmen attacked the convoy of Apostle Suleiman. Sadly, while the policemen always meet their end, the actors they protect always escape unhurt! The reason is simple, they drive in bulletproof vehicles while the policemen rode in open roof vans!
I wonder what happens to secret policing where intelligence gathering was the order of the day? Where are the once dreaded CID police whose presence in communities sends shivers down the spine of criminals? Today, policing is more of physical presence with no hue to taciturn and secret operations, policemen are more flamboyant with starched informs and guns following VIPs aimlessly; the reason they fall prey to the menacing onslaught of attackers.
The policemen killed by gunmen in Auchi yesterday will never see their families again, life for their families would never be the same again and like others, they will be counted as statistics and life go on! Too sad and unfortunate. You trained policemen to protect lives and property and they got hijacked by privileged people as personal bodyguards. Release these men to the communities and see crime disappear because they will be more effective and useful gathering intelligence than roaming around VIPs.
And more worrisome was the expression of apostle Suleiman, he hit the media to brag about his closeness to God, how he was spared because of God’s love for him. Does that mean the people killed weren’t loved by God? He should have kept quiet and mourned the tragic end of souls wasted by evil men, he should have been solemn –
Again, this tragic incident should give those who put fate in men that the only protection they are assured of is God’s protection. Any other one is mere spiritual stunt. Even those who give you hope walk around with policemen who are today prey to criminal attacks.
Sadly musing
Abdullahi Haruna Haruspice writes from Abuja,Nigeria
