There is a welcome development in the Rivers State Police command which if sustained and widely emulated, promises to sanitise the police formation and burnish the sullied image of the force as a whole. Having successfully busted the kidnapping and extortion attempt by some of its errant personnel recently, the command is in the news again for salutary reasons. Last week, it paraded the officers allegedly involved in the abduction of two travellers from Abia State and the extortion of $3000 from them. The police command said it had recovered the $3000 from the officers and returned it to the victims. And the three police officers who were allegedly involved have been identified, apprehended and are to face orderly room trial shortly. The police spokesperson in the state, Grace Iringe-Koko, disclosed this in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital while parading the three officers. Mrs. Iringe-Koko, a police superintendent, identified the officers as two Assistant Superintendents of Police, Doubara Edonyabo and Talent Mungo, and an Inspector, Odey Michael. She said the action was part of the internal disciplinary measures taken against the officers for their involvement in unlawful activities.

This is cheery news not just because of the arrest of the wayward police officers and the recovery of the extorted money, which, of course, are very significant, but also because of the swiftness of the reaction of the command to the despicable incident involving its officers. The command is increasingly showing to all in practical terms that it has no place for bad eggs within its rank and file. And that is really comforting for the citizenry who may now begin to repose confidence and trust in the ability and willingness of the police to carry out their core mandate of protecting life and property. This is a marked distinction from previous experiences in the state, and which still persists in many other states, where police personnel literally get away with any malfeasance, no matter how egregious. It is either esprit de corps is discreetly invoked or those mandated to consider the propriety or otherwise of suspected personnel’s conduct become complicit, especially if the pecuniary gain is in the offing. To know that the current leadership in the Rivers State command is making a clean break from the past is laudable and encouraging.

This development from the Rivers State police command is quite impressive. It promises to significantly change the general perception of the public about the police as lawless enforcers of the law. If the gesture is sustained and emulated by other police commands, the country and the police will be better for it in terms of remarkable improvements in law and order and a significantly improved image. We strongly urge the Rivers State police command to sustain the current tempo of bringing concrete expression to its abhorrence of acts of criminality within its fold by bringing errant personnel to book.

One of the critical factors that can rein in lawlessness by police personnel is total avoidance of impunity. The logic is simple: the certainty of arrest and punishment would dissuade many would-be offenders. Now, it will certainly be clear to errant policemen that the current leadership of the police in Rivers State will not protect them. Evidently, and fortunately, so the leadership of the command not only follows through on complaints but also ensures that no stone is left unturned in fishing out transgressors among the rank and file. This is the kind of leadership that can help rebuild the rapidly ebbing confidence in public institutions and servants. We commend the leadership for this and wish that it would go further to entrench an open structure of complaints that will prove to would-be transgressors among the personnel that they will be caught, as there would be no way to hide or cover their tracks.

It is hoped that the entire police formation and other government agencies will borrow a leaf from the commendable effort of the Rivers State police command, following through on complaints and fishing out those who go against the rules in their establishments. If there is more leadership change along this line, the prospect of a more productive public system in the country will be heightened. It bears stressing that the positive development being witnessed in the Rivers State Police command is down to a leadership that is able, willing and always striving to ensure that every personnel under its watch operates within the ambit of the law at all times. While we urge the police authorities to encourage the emergence of many more of such leaderships in the short run, the ultimate goal should be an effective, institutionalised arrangement that will not make police performance and conformance to appropriate conduct dependent on individual leaders.

Put more pointedly, the relevant authorities should be deliberate and intentional about instituting systems, processes and procedures within the police structure and operations that will make it difficult or even impossible for the police leadership at any level to conduct itself differently from the Rivers State police command’s with respect, in particular, to reining in criminal excesses of police personnel.

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