Just heard a really disturbing story of our dear police and realised that not much has changed in spite of the arrival of a tough-talking new IG.
Somebody lost his car to robbers at gun point recently. I just asked him if there had been any feedback from the police on the issue, and he sighed and gave a tale of woes.
The moment he rushed to the police to lodge the complaint of theft, he was allegedly told that he needed to provide the sum of N12, 000 to enable them mobilise quickly to track the vehicle which was barely a few months on the road. The distressed victim complied.
Then, he was directed to take the case to another station where radio communication would be immediately sent out to relevant stations to quicken the recovery process. There he was asked to provide N5, 000.
Yet, the victim said he complied in the hope that some magic would happen and they would be able to get his car, a very neat, black Honda Accord (EOD). He was requested to check back periodically.
The first time he checked up a few days later to find out if there was any update, he was allegedly told to bring some recharge cards that would be sent to key officers to make calls to facilitate the recovery of the car!
At this point, the poor man realised he had become nothing more than a veritable ATM to the very people who should help him solve his problem. He left the station depressed.
Many years ago, burglars entered my flat and made away with many things, including my laptop, wristwatches and my wife’s jewellery. I headed for the nearest police station to lodge a report. I was requested to see an officer, who in turn asked me to provide some funds to get necessary things to commence investigations.
I simply rose and walked away because I knew there was a better chance of ice being found in hell than the police recovering what was looted from my flat. Perhaps, it was that easy for me because the value of what I lost was nothing compared to a very neat Honda Accord car.
Many stories like these abound, of policemen requesting gratification from people they should pity. Apparently, working as a police kills whatever sense of human sympathy that people have.
