HOW THE POLICE TREAT THERE OWN

Nigerians are used to the brutality of the police towards civilians. Infact it is a thing of surprise if the Police in the country pass up the opportunity to brutalize and break every available human rights of an individual whenever the opportunity present itself. But under the law of self preservation, animals of the same kind tend to stick together. It is the best way to ensure the survival of there specie. Hence the Nigerian police no matter how inhuman they treat civilians are at lest expected to cover each other up. Accounts from eye witnesses of crimes committed by police officers tend to collaborate these. You can therefore imagine my surprise to discover that the inhumanity of the Nigerian Police is not just limited to civilians but also extend to there treatment of there fellow officers. A friend of mine married to a police officer, recently lost her husband to men of the underworld in debatable circumstances. The story goes thus, around 1am on the said day two weeks back. There commanding officer ordered them to go on patrol in Elekahia a suburb of Port Harcourt, he himself obliged to follow them on the said patrol. About Ten minutes to the crime happening he alighted from the car ordering the three remaining officers to go back to the station. Less than 10 minutes later they were accosted by a lady screaming for help that she was being chased, on stopping to assist her one of the police officers got out of the vehicle, while the other made way for her to sit in there Hilus pick-up Truck. Immediately a car drew level to them and opened fire killing the driver and the lady immediately, while my friend’s husband who was the second officer in the car was seriously injured. Now the story takes an unexpected twist. The police man outside was neither injured nor shot at; one would expect that after such an incident he would rush to the aid of his colleagues. But he did neither, infact he strolled home and did not bother to report the crime until he reported for duty the next day. My friend’s husband still had the presence of mind to use his phone to call his fellow officers at the station. On arrival from the police station his fellow officers, took him ;there colleague that was shot four times, that they could clearly see was bleeding profusely not to the hospital as any sane man would have done. No! They took him instead to the police station and sat down and watch him bleed for two hours until he gave up the ghost. I asked the wife whether the police had in there employment a Doctor that was based in the station, she said no. I got confused, only an idiot takes a bleeding man with four gun shot wounds, who happens to be your colleague to the office instead of the hospital when you can clearly see he is staring death in the face. The matter gets even funnier. The next day found the wife at the police station being subjected to an indefinite barrage of boast by the commanding officer. Who instead of commiserating with the new widow took the opportunity to boast of the efficacy of his JUJU which according to him had never disappointed him. As I write the DPO of the station is yet to send any delegation nor has him or any officer in the station taken time of to visit the widow of the man; These over 2 weeks since the man’s death.