How will Emeka Ugwuonye feel hearing about the tragedy that befell the police in Taraba?

In his prison cell, Emeka Ugwuonye, will probably be following the ongoing tension between the Army and the Police. One must wonder what goes on, on his mind right now. If he were a vindictive person, Emeka Ugwuonye would be rejoicing today. He will feel vindicated and he might say I told you so.

But knowing Emeka Ugwuonye, he will probably be grieving for the families of those police officers killed in Taraba. He will probably agonize over the National tragedy under which our soldiers and our policemen will be shooting at each other.

Emeka Ugwuonye is vindicated nonetheless. Since 2016, he has been warning the nation about the gathering dangers of undisciplined Security Forces (Soldiers, Police, DSS, NSCDC, etc) that do not care about human rights. The Nigerian police, including the IRT officers, are involved in gross human rights abuses, use of extreme force, disregard for right to life.

Unfortunately, they failed to realize that the kind of violence they cherished could be visited upon their members by personnel of another security agency equally disposed to disproportionate use of force. Otherwise, why would the soldiers fire into the vehicle that contained the person they wanted to rescue from presumed kidnappers?

The truth of what happened in Taraba may never come out. The Nigerian Police are disposed to reckless use of force. Likewise the Nigerian Soldiers. Nigerian Police have no reputation for honesty. Likewise the soldiers. The Nigerian Police have constantly abused the civilians. Indeed, nobody knew that they were capable of shedding tears.

Emeka Ugwuonye tried to raise awareness about the abuses being committed by our police officers. Rather than appreciate his effort, the police officers implicated, conspired to fabricate false criminal charges against him, hoping to silence him. But while their lies kept Emeka in prison, the danger he warned against has been visited on the police.

The police are now victims of violence, which they have visited on others. There will not be much tears for them. Their victims have no tears to spare. The sooner the police start listening to the likes of Emeka Ugwuonye the sooner we can stop this wanton bloodshed that has enveloped the nation. This ugly incident is a perfect opportunity for the reforms Emeka Ugwuonye and DPA have called for.