Kemi Badenoch Was Right: Nigerian Police Stole My Phone In 2019 By Elias Ozikpu
As for the Nigerian police, it has to be completely revamped, and then its officers retrained all over again, with heavy consequences in the event that ethical codes are violated.
British politician Kemi Badenoch recently became a subject of fierce attacks by officials of the Nigerian government for continuing her criticism of Nigeria’s crumbled and utterly corrupt system.
Part of what riled officials of the Nigerian government was her disclosure during her interview with The Free Press, when the Conservative Party leader said, ‘Nigeria is a very poor country’ where people do all sorts to survive. Kemi was right and wrong at the same time, depending on your perspective on this matter. Personally, my understanding is that Nigeria isn’t necessarily a poor country as she put it, but the pervasive poverty in the country is man-made—created and entrenched by political officeholders who have done nothing but privatise public wealth since independence in 1960. So, contrary to Kemi’s submission, Nigeria is a wealthy country, but that wealth appears to be the ‘birthright’ of the political class alone! Except you are a politician, you will never enjoy Nigeria’s immense wealth, nor will you enjoy the benefits of being a Nigerian citizen, if any exist. Even your fundamental human rights, which are inherent, are taken from you if you are not amongst the political class in Nigeria.
The second remark that irked Nigerian officials was her submission that the Nigerian police once stole her brother’s wristwatch and shoes. It is not clear why this should get officials worked up, especially with daily reports of the infamous activities of some officers of our police force. Whilst I know absolutely nothing about the theft of the shoes and wristwatch belonging to Kemi’s brother, I can tell authoritatively that I have been a victim of the robbery of officers of the Nigerian Police. During the #RevolutionNow protest in Lagos, which took place on August 5, 2019, I was arbitrarily arrested, and my phone, an HTC Desire 10 Pro, was snatched from me by a police officer. The press captured him holding the phone whilst dragging me to get locked up in a waiting Black Maria. All the police officers present at the scene saw him snatch the phone, but none of them asked him to return it. Whilst I was being prepared for detention, the police did not record the phone as part of my belongings despite my insistence that they do so.
Lawyer and human rights activist Inibehe Effiong took up the case at the time and petitioned the Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, asking him to investigate the robbery of his officers and ensured my phone was recovered and returned to me. When we were invited in respect of the petition, the police told us that it was impossible for them to identify the officer who snatched my phone. They asked me to go and find out from the journalists who captured the officer holding the phone he had forcefully taken from me. That was how that case ended. They didn’t know their own officer, but they expected journalists to. Incredible!
So, it is a curious thing to me that government officials should be infuriated because someone talked about the notorious activities of officers of the Nigeria Police. The truth will always remain what it is; it never changes nor dies. Nigeria will never get better with its officials deliberately working to conceal a stinking decay already known throughout the world, nor will the country get better by expecting impoverished citizens to do false PR in the face of the economic oppression they have been subjected to for approximately 70 years as an independent nation. Nigeria will only get better if political officeholders respect citizens and ensure that the nation’s wealth is justly and equally distributed in a way that puts a permanent end to the monopolisation of public wealth by political officeholders.
As for the Nigerian police, it has to be completely revamped, and then its officers retrained all over again, with heavy consequences in the event that ethical codes are violated. This will avoid incidents such as the ones that led to the eruption of the #EndSARS protests in 2020. If Nigerian officials expect positive remarks about the system they preside over, these steps must be taken, along with the equal distribution of public wealth. Until then, international embarrassments about the true Nigerian situation will not cease. Of course, through their trigger-happy uniformed men and women, Nigerian officials are adept at silencing those within for criticising the chaotic system they have vehemently refused to fix. But what will they do to the Kemis who do so from several miles away? What will they do to the likes of David Cameron, who famously said, Nigeria is ‘fantastically corrupt’? In the end, it becomes clear that fixing the country is the only solution, not intimidating, arresting, and detaining critics and unarmed protesters and slamming them with laughable charges of treason.
Nigeria’s political officeholders must do what is right, or they will spend their tenure defending the indefensible, thereby making themselves a laughing stock locally and internationally. You cannot impose respect; you must earn it.
Elias Ozikpu is a novelist, dramatist, and journalist.
