The Inspector General of the Nigerian police force, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo knows the problems facing him in the institution he has been saddled with the task of leading, he has at various times stated it, but I think it is most concisely stated in the Punch Newspaper of September 30, 2009; “it is apparent that indiscipline, unprofessionalism (sic) and widespread corruption have been the bane of the Nigerian police over the years, a situation that has greatly affected service delivery” are the words he used. Still on words, in the same newspaper he lamented the tampering with of crime scenes by ‘sympathizers‘- employing the use of words like fingerprints, blood samples … if only he acts on the words he uses.
On indiscipline, what has the IG done concerning the bribe collectors on most Nigerian roads? How can he refute the recurring allegations that the bribe collectors are just foot soldiers, and that they make returns of up to 70% of collected bribes to the upper echelons of the force? What has he done to deal with the inherent rudeness found in all men of the force? Has anything been done to curb drunkenness while on duty?? How many plainclothes units are in the nation to checkmate the gross indiscipline found in more than 85% of the patrolmen on our highways?
The punch line (for me) is the when he talks about fingerprints and blood samples (let me help him with the fantasy by adding the negligence of passersby to take vehicle identification plate numbers, and notice their environment!!!): yes, it is a fact that no two fingerprints nor lip prints are the same (not even in identical twins), and this has been successfully used in apprehension of suspects in a lot of cases around the world, but its application in present day Nigeria is what amuses me- what database are you using as a reference point? What is the Nigerian version of the American VICAP? Do we by any chance have a database of the fingerprints of all convicted felons in Lagos state, before we go to the Federal level? Can the Nigerian prison services provide a database of prisoners paroled and otherwise that have gone through the institution in the last five years? How many companies have digital copies of the fingerprints of their employees that can be used as cross references when a new fingerprint shows up at a crime scene? What department in the force handles the need to do the aforementioned? The most elementary part of fingerprint identification is lifting the prints, how many detectives in the Nigerian Police force have the necessary skills required to carry out this mundane task? What parts of forensic science are being actively used by the Nigerian police force to solve crimes? What are the crimes that have been solved using the skills inherent in forensic analysis of crime scenes and victims in the last 10 years?
Obviously the case of Bayo Owu will remain unsolved, but I hope the IG will start concentrating on the little things that are chipping away at the edifice known as the Nigerian Police Force, and leave ardent novel readers and idealists (like yours sincerely) alone to deal with the myriads of ‘Nigerian’ problems they face on a daily basis the best way they know- through fiction!!!
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