From.a.top.Police Officer
ISANLU ROBBERY AND THE WAY FORWARD!!!.
I seize this opportunity to again greet all Okun sons and daughters both at home and in Diaspora and pray that what we experienced at Isanlu on the 4th of June shall never happen again. I also seize this time to commiserate with the families that lost their loved ones in that tragedy. Now it has happened and since then everyone has been busy with his/her day to day activities. I have read so many write ups on this incident especially the lackadaisical attitudes of our police officers when they are on duty. Let me say here that every officer you see in uniform must have passed through Some prescribed special training where they have been taught how to conduct themselves while on duty but the indiscipline that has eaten up the fabrics of our society has penetrated our youths in all spheres of live. Some have talked about the presence of the military in Okun land, all in an effort to see that Okun land is protected. All those write up contain a lot of senses but are yet to address the issue of Police security. Please do understand that what makes the difference between a military man and a police man is the uniform and the training. We don't have to be told that there is hunger in the country and Okun land is not an exemption. Man by nature can go about living his life without owning a house or living without having many cloths but May not be stable mentally going about for two or more days without food and without any hope of some at sight. Some unusual behaviour would definitely start to manifest in him or her and this is where our problem lies.The government of this country are sitting on a keg of gun powder if nothing is done about unemployment or having any meaningful plan to address the issue of welfare for the growing population. How can there be this degree of hunger in a Nation that God has so blessed like this?. This is very sad!. The federal government suggested the issue of palliative for the growing population during this pandemic lockdown but failed woefully to the extent that states, private individuals and religious organisations started putting smiles on people's faces. When the federal government suggested the use of BVN to put some tokens into some people's accounts, the suggestions that came from some government officials would make one think such people have their brains tied around their waist. With all the money donated to the government nothing could be done to reach majority of the citizens that are vulnerable. It was indeed a show of shame!. Some of our children outside the country were well cared for despite the fact they come from another country. I start to wonder if this generation can ever get there with this type of people running the affairs of this nation. The people at the top May have good intention but apparently the people around them to execute the policies are sell outs!. Let me make the people suggesting that the presence of the military in Okun land would have anything to do with boosting the Security of our people. Let them remember that the degrees of robbery and kidnapping cases recorded between Obajana Kabba road, Lokoja and Okene also that of Lokoja and Koton Karfi axis can be said to be unprecedented yet there is the presence of the military in Lokoja, probably not more than ten miles radius. The Military is established to fight wars and to defend our nation in case of any external aggression, while the role of the police is basically civil in protecting lives and property, arrest offenders and take them to court to ensure justice is done. We don't necessarily need to be dragging the military to civil matter unless it's absolutely necessary like what we are having in the North East and Zamfara states. What I know should be done in that of the Police security which has never been done because every government that comes to power are always using politics to chose whoever becomes the Security advisers to the government. Let me make it categorically clear at this point that what ever one does not have he can not absolutely give!. Now with what happened to our innocent officers in Isanlu on the 4th of June who are now late, some people would by now be advising the government in power to fortify the Police station in terms of possibly fencing it round with solid security gates. My question is why is it that such a simple project was never suggested to the government all this while until the armed robbers came to kill almost all the people in the station before going to rob the bank?. I know such project May not even have cost the government up to 10 million naira. What has the present and the previous governments been doing with the bogus security votes and their Security advisers?. Let me come again to let people know that you can not expect any meaningful security from a person who is not well secured himself and that is the case of all the Police Stations built all over Okun land without any formidable fences and gates to give the facilities some degree of security. I can likened those fenceless Police Stations as "scarecrows"!. This is because on the day of attack such stations would be run over as we experienced at Isanlu on the 4th of June. Our politicians should again bear in mind that as they usually surround themselves with scores of our security outfits so everyone in the society is constitutionally required to be protected. We have seen and we have some records where some state governments had spent a lot of money to buy vehicles to support police operation in their states. Such state governments should however note that the vehicles May soon become instruments of extortion if the government don't support the day to day running of the vehicles. Modern days policing does not actually require great number of personnels but rather have the neccessary and modern equipment to work with. Any form of security outfit that is not mobile and air worthy can be viewed as incapacitated. For a police station like that of Isanlu should for example have nothing less than ten patrol vehicles and twenty walkie talkie at their disposal in order to adequately secure their environment. Let me stress at this point that another name for security is money!. There is therefore no how any government can be doing some economy when it bothers on SECURITY!. It's therefore not advisable not to even venture into it than cutting corners as such will overtime boomerang. With the case of those who operate Commercial Banks in Okun land, they should by now know that our society is changing every day with increased criminality and there is therefore the need for them to be current as regard the mode of protecting their facilities. I know to maintain electric doors that are remotely controlled in some banks in the cities may not be easy to maintain in our area where we hardly have constant supply of power because of the cause of running the generators that will supply the current for the doors to be oprational. But as at of now considering the security situation in the country that is what I can still recommend for them and they should know that this could be run only during the office hours so as to reduce cost. When one compares the cost of maintaining such doors with the loss of lives and the amount of money to be carted away by the robbers, one would still consider the latter as appropriate. LET me draw the attention of our peoplevwho are financially best and are also in position to please consider how in their own little ways give support to the police officers posted to our area rather than living their fate with the government. Nothing can be seen to be a better way forward in the future security of the Police in Okun land outside what I have just highlighted in this little wrte up. How I wish our government in Kogi State can have access to this information May be it could make sense!. Ile Omo Okun agbea oo.
Yours, Olayemi John Bola DCP retd. (The Obajemu of Ayede, Ayetoro Gbede. Ijumu LGA.
