Pascal Arogorn Ibe
No fewer than 62 personnel of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have been killed between January and February this year by criminal elements in 15 states.
Similar killings in some other states were largely unreported within the period.
Members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), bandits, kidnappers, Boko Haram terrorists, cultists and armed robbers are some of the criminals that perpetrated the act.
However, while some elders, especially in the South East, have blamed IPOB for the heinous act of killing police operatives, the media in most of the reported cases hid the identity of the proscribed group by describing the attackers as “unknown gunmen”.
Some serving police personnel interviewed said their morale was low and wondered why some people were against them despite the sacrifice they were making to keep society safe.
Some analysts have noted that the indiscriminate killing of security operatives would spell doom and therefore called on relevant authorities to tame the trend.
A tally from reported cases in the media showed that some officers were killed by their colleagues while on duty and some died in auto crashes. Findings also revealed that Delta State recorded the highest cases. It was observed that the brutal attack on police personnel heightened after last year’s #EndSARS protests which also led to the deaths of many operatives.
Some officers and men of the police said it was very difficult working in Nigeria.
A police sergeant said, “Since the #EndSARS protests, many Nigerians have developed cold feet for us, and honestly, I don’t know why.
“While we are always putting our best to keep Nigeria safe with little motivation, some criminals are killing us at will and nothing is happening to them. This is demoralising.”
Another officer, Corporal Sani, said he felt like removing the uniform completely for another venture.
He said, “I am tired of the job and I want to leave. In other climes, there is no way miscreants would kill police personnel and go away with it, but here, some people don’t even want to call them criminals; it is very sad, but the truth is that all of us would regret the day that we would not have the police on the streets.”
Speaking on the preponderance of attacks on police operatives, a senior officer who pleaded anonymity, said many personnel of the force had applied to be redeployed from the South East, South South and other violent-prone regions of the country.
He said many hoodlums attacking police and their formations had sophisticated weapons than the officers of the force; hence that it would be difficult to tame or reduce the growing violence in those regions.
He further said, “I can tell you that those who were redeployed from the South East and South South to the North after some police stations were burnt in Abia and Anambra states were very happy when they received their redeployment letters.
“Though not all those who applied would be redeployed, but a considerable number of them would be redeployed pending when lasting solutions would be found. I’m still wondering why police are the targets.”
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