The slogan that ‘Police is your Friend’ is not just a word, unlike what the former minister of finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, would say of recession, which, again, is staring us right in the face. The saying that the ‘Police is your Friend’ is real.
If you think otherwise, just imagine a society, especially now that everywhere you go, ‘children of anger’ and all manner of criminals seem to dominate more spaces than before. Mayhem would be what you see everywhere.
Indeed, it was the police that came to my rescue from a reckless driver, recently, on a very wet day in Lagos. That day, yours sincerely was a victim of these ‘children of anger.’
After a heavy downpour that brought down electric poles, trees, masts, roofs and also flooded many homes, you can imagine the traffic situation in Lagos. Precisely on May 20, 2019, after the heavy rains that also came with heavy winds, driving through Lagos roads was one hell of a task.
Almost everywhere was blocked completely. And having gone through the terrible traffic and its attendant madness, I thought my trouble was over when I eventually made it to Kudirat Abiola Way in Oregun, not far from my destination. Surprisingly too, traffic here was not as heavy as I expected. So I heaved a sigh of relief.
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But that would be for just a few minutes as there was this truck driving so carelessly in front of me, obviously driven by one of those lawless truck divers that feel they can terrorize any other road user with their big vehicle. So, I did everything to avoid him.
At the slightest opportunity, this driver would move his vehicle in and out of lanes, without consideration for the next road user. Having found myself behind him, it was my prayer that when we eventually get to the intersection where I would exit into Opebi Link Road, he probably would be heading straight and off my way.
Unfortunately, that was not to be as he not only made same turning as me but also suddenly stopped at the middle of the road. Nonetheless, there was enough room to drive pass him on this particular road. But soon as I tried to do that, this driver look out of his window, saw me, and suddenly moved his vehicle, dragging mine along with him in the process. He never bothered to stop at the point of contact, which led me to believe it was a deliberate act. And I have not stopped wondering why.
The two doors and the mirror of my car were damaged. The driver of the truck that hit me felt nothing, as it were; showed no remorse! Instead, he came down from his vehicle, along with his passengers to not only accuse me of not exercising patience for him to drive off (whenever he decided), but also boasted that they would have beaten the hell out of me if I had been a man.
Few minutes into the altercation, his likes surrounded the scene and joined in blaming me for ‘running into his truck’. They gathered in solidarity with one of their own, and none would admit or say anything close to the truth on the incident. Was I dazed? Perhaps.
But while they were still at it, some policemen, senior ones at that who apparently were on another assignment, showed up at the scene. In what I consider an act of God, they were on that road just at the right time for me because going by how the truck driver and his gang were going, anything could have happened. Perhaps, they would have beaten me up after all, because they seemed to be high on some substance.
Otherwise, how could anyone in their right senses after seeing the extent of damage done to someone else’s property, still have the courage to threaten to beat up that person, in addition?
What happened next, however, was quite instructive and must have shocked the gang that may have felt they could buy their way with the policemen. Unfortunately, this set of policemen that first arrived the scene of the accident obviously does not belong to the class they may have been dealing with.
Someone who heard of the incident had actually sent me a message to be on the alert with both the police and the hoodlums. For according to him, truck owners seem to have an agreement with the police on how to settle in cases like the one at hand. How? Your guess is as good as mine.
But the information was that these truck drivers on Lagos roads would destroy your car and dare you to take the matter anywhere you wish to because they were almost 100 per cent sure they would buy over the police in the matter.
My experience, however, was different, all thanks to the officers that arrived the scene first, although in the confusion, I didn’t remember to check on their name tags since they wouldn’t give me their names but their phone numbers, which was quite helpful.
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From their dressing though and appearance, I could sense they were senior officers, especially their leader. They took time to listen to both sides of the story, checked out the scene of the accident and the cars and at the end, lectured the truck driver on traffic rules, which clearly confirmed he was at fault. All the evidence was spelt out to him.
I didn’t even know that by this time, they had communicated the incident to the Alausa Police Station and had asked the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to send his men to the scene.
Few minutes later, two officers got to the scene on their bike and were handed over the case by the earlier officers, who then drove off. The matter went on from there to Alausa Police Station, where my position that the truck driver must fix my car was met, to a large.
Notwithstanding the loss I suffered in the process, I was impressed with police handling of the case, which was expedited by the information I felt was provided the DPO by those policemen that first arrived the scene.
Their professional handling of the matter did not only strengthen the fact that police is your friend; it also supported part of the Force’s mission of ‘creating a safe and secure environment for everyone living in Nigeria.’
Without their timely intervention, I don’t know how I would have handled those ruffians, who appeared to have everything against lawful behavior. As it were, I was rescued from these ‘children of anger’ by the police and convinced that when adequately provided for, the Nigeria police can work effectively.
Which takes me to the next issue. Looks like most Nigerians today are angry, very angry, indeed, especially the poor that are growing in leaps and bounds. But then, a hungry man, they say, is an angry man. And there is so much hunger in the land.
You can imagine the level of anger flying all over the place in a country where 91.8 million people are said to be extremely poor.
The World Poverty Clock, a web tool produced by World Data Lab, in addition, reveals that since June 2018, four million Nigerians have joined the poverty club. Nigeria, same period, was named the poverty capital of the world, naturally occasioned by factors such as unemployment, insecurity, among others.
And according to the World Bank, a person is said to be living in extreme poverty if they live below the poverty line of $1.90, which translates to N693.5 per day. Now, more than half of Nigeria’s population live on less than a dollar (N360) a day.
So, there is chaos and anarchy everywhere you turn. Apart from being so angry, many Nigerians today are also absent-minded. If in doubt, take a walk or a drive on our major roads and you will see that a lot of people are just looking for where to vent their anger. Others are just walking, with their minds elsewhere.
Everything seems to have broken down in the country such that where cows are not taking over the roads, for instance, cart pushers heading the wrong way will block cars on the roads.
It would appear that in no distant future, the poor may begin to openly attack those they perceived to be rich, or average, or okay, as they believe they are the cause of their problems.
A reckless commercial motor cycle rider, otherwise known as okada, runs into you, damages your car and rather than talk of how to pay for the damages, or even plead for mercy, next thing is for you to be surrounded by a group of angry okada riders in solidarity with their member, terrorizing you.
And depending on the extent of injury sustained by their member, they may further destroy your car, or take other mob action against you. Irrationally, they descend on you with this aggression of “them against us” mentality.
That was exactly what played out when the truck driver bashed my car. Children of anger every! And as a renowned Economist and Nobel Laureate, Muhammad Yunus, once said,
the frustrations, hostility and anger generated by abject poverty cannot sustain peace in any society.
What will is stabilization and empowerment of political institutions, including the police, which is crucial to the fight against the dangerous consequences of poverty.
Too many Nigerians are angry, frustrated and that is very dangerous for development.
