A bit of my childhood reality in Lagos was the painful realization of how formal policing structures aide criminality. Growing up, I realized that criminal gangs had budgets for Security Heads. And the evil cycle that we are yet to really stop is how former criminals find their way into formal security structures. It is therefore, not so shocking that quite an uncomfortable few of our security officers are Senior Cultists with clandestine allegiance to their cult groups.
In the early days of internet fraud (yahoo-yahoo), FESTAC town was the melting point for today’s grandfathers of the criminal enterprise. They had a group, call it a trade union, with members drawn from different tribes. Annually, they held end of the year parties, where they inducted honorary members from different legitimate walks of life. From the Police, the Military, Judiciary, Banking to even the Academia, they had “Patrons” who they feted with exotic gifts and in turn hope for protection or connection when they run into trouble. They made donations of “crime fighting” trucks to security formations and gave regular kickbacks to heads of such formations.
As a budding yahoo boy, if you did not belong to the group and paid dues to the collective pool from your criminal earnings, they send the security men after you and threaten to prosecute you with available evidence. This was the days, and I believe it may still be the case, when Police officers mounted road blocks at FESTAC first gate only to search young boys carrying backpacks.
If you belonged to the cartel, you either had an ID card or a code word that can guarantee your instant freedom when you run into this officers. I say this because without a strong willed leadership, some Nigerians in our security formations care less about messing up our collective destinies for selfish ends. Every now and then the IG of Police keeps announcing the withdrawal of Police officers who move about protecting VIPs, many of whom are the very reason we can’t close our eyes at night or move about freely. Often, it is alleged that when such announcements are made it is not with any good intent to really withdraw the Police officers from these VIPs, but more as a way to negotiate for higher pays. Ending the spell of criminal acquisition of wealth either through kidnapping, internet fraud, organ harvesting, drug pushing and even armed robbery would require a continued sensitization, call-out and capital punishment for any Officer of the criminal justice system who sabotages our collective safety by having any form of unholy alliance or affiliation with any criminal.
The Economics of crime and crime fighting are critical and must be addressed within the context of our formal policing system.
– Mazi Ejimofor Opara PhD writes from Awka, Anambra State.
