DPA CHALLENGES NIGERIAN POLICE ON GENERAL BADEH’S ASSASSINATION

The brutal assassination of a retired former supreme commander of the Nigerian military is an egg thrown on face of the Nigerian police. It shows the increasing weakness of the Nigerian police in the fight against violent crimes.

DPA challenges the police to take this case as a call to change gear.  Rather than our police force focusing on men and material resources, on petty crimes and debt collection, it should focus rather on   fighting violent criminals with modern techniques and procedures. Rather than turning policemen into bodyguards and handbag-carriers and umbrella-holders for the favored rich, they should focus on keeping our streets safe.

General Badeh’s death is a sad commentary on the Nigerian police. Over 24 hours after the incident, the Nigerian police has maintained virtual media silence over the incident. The office of Mr. Jimoh Moshood, the official police propagandist, has stayed away from informing the nation what the police thinks about Badeh’s murder. Anywhere else in the world where the police knows its job, there would have been hourly updates from the police to assure Nigerians that there hasn’t been a total breakdown of law and order.

As the nation mourns Badeh, the citizens must also wonder: where is the police. How come the powerful and menacing police officers went to sleep on duty?