By OKOSUN DENNIS
Enough is enough of the rascality of some policemen, who wittingly take laws into their hands, perhaps, after handsome gratifications; succumb to the cunning, unholy arrangement to allow prime suspects escape prosecution or justice.
Unfortunately, the world is changing rapidly from where criminals were rewarded with punishment to where they are glamourized, eulogised and rewarded with chieftaincy titles depending how strong such person is financially.
National Daily survey indicated that we are living in a world where some officers at the helm of law enforcement are now becoming accomplices and serving as accessories to the perpetration of crimes rather than checking crimes in the society.
In the last few years, the number of criminals that have eloped from police cell in the country is becoming worrisome.
Besides that, the number of jail breaks experienced in the last couple of years allegedly orchestrated or aided by some security agents is a thing to be addressed urgently in order to stop criminals evading punishment.
Particularly worrisome is the high profile criminals that are involved. The recent escape in Port Harcourt of a ritual murderer that killed an eight years old girl and harvested her body parts lay credence to the fact that some men of the Nigerian Police have either compromised, ineffectual in its campaign against criminals or are negligent in their discharge of their duties hence criminals beat them to it and escape.
Dairy of escape
On the 19th August 2017, one Maxwell Ifeanyi Chukwu Dike, also known as Maxwell Wicwad, a 23-year-old under graduate of Physics at the University of Port Harcourt was arrested by vigilante group after abducting and slaughtering an eight years old Victory Chikamso.
He hails from Umueze Alaeje in Mbaitolu local government area of Imo state but escaped from the police custody after been arrested at Eliozu Community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers and handed over to the men of the Okporo Police Station.
Also, on 23rd July 2015, two robbery suspects escaped from police detention at Isheri Osun Division under Area M Command, Idimu. The suspects escaped after they had ripped off the roof of their cell while two Sergeants and a Constable were on duty and they feigned ignorance of the escape.
Police authority suspected connivance of those on duty, who had claimed to have slept off. It would be recalled that the community members had assisted the police to arrest the suspects following their notoriety and several robbery attacks on residents.
the suspect, Wasiu Saka, 30, was arrested on 21 June 2015 and escaped two days later. The serial robber stole cars from his employers. He confessed that he was assisted to escape from the police cell after he had greased the palm of the policemen with N60,000. He was allegedly told to relocate from Lagos to avoid the prying eyes of police detectives.
Also, Kabiru Sokoto was arrested on Saturday, 14 January, 2012. He escaped outside Abuja from police custody. As a key suspect in the Christmas Day bombing by Boko Haram which killed more than 40 people during the 25 December bombing of St Theresa Roman Catholic church in Madalla, thought the handling of such suspect would be of highest quality.
ALSO SEE: Killer of raped 8-yr-old police arrested escaped on the way to detention
Sokoto was arrested in Abuja at a lodge purportedly owned by the Governor of Borno state, Kashim Shettima. He was a member of the Islamist sect Boko Haram. As a result, Commissioner of Police Zakari Biu was arrested for aiding his escape.
Fortunately, this world has changed completely into an odd place where criminals seem to walk freely away after committing some of the most atrocious crimes. Due to the riches they acquire, they use it to muscle their ways out of detention through and become respectable individuals in the society.
This would not be worrisome if it were to be in a lawless society, unfortunately, there seems to be deliberate act to subvert law to suit the interest of the wealthy and powerful criminal gangs that have acquired stupendous wealth and make the law to favour them at the whims and caprices of the victims who are going or have been made to go through excruciating conditions.
Allegedly, Nigerian police seems to be the worst broker of this subversion than the criminals themselves because if the law enforcement agents don’t succumb to their evil plans, it will be impossible for the criminals to easily escape from the arms of the law.
Deliberately or unintentionally, consciously or unconsciously, some bad eggs in the police force allegedly assist criminals to evade justice.
After the joy that followed the arrest of a suspected ritual killer by vigilante group, Ifeanyichukwu Maxwell Dike, by the Rivers State Police Command, the rude shock of his escape blight the joy as he escaped from police detention shortly after he was taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Port Harcourt on the 19th August, 2017.
After been arrested at Eliozu Community in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers and handed over to men of the Okporo Police Station for abduction defilement and killing of Victory Chikamso before removing her vagina, eyes, tongue and breast for ritual purposes.
The subsequent arrest and arraignment of the Investigative Police Officer (IPO) Sergeant Johnbosco after the suspect escaped under his watch on the flimsy excuse that the station had no light was Lilliputian. Without being judgmental, the picture of favouritism or unnecessary sympathetic gesture of the IPO to the suspect while extracting statement from him was an indication that he might have compromised.
He escaped in the station after writing his statement and was being led to the cell by the IPO, even while the father of the victim, Dr Ernest Nmezuwuba was still at the station.
As cases of such escape abounds, critics and security experts have lampooned the police system of either compromise or not doing enough or the needful to deal with the malady of insistent escape by criminals.
ALSO SEE: How Dike, ritual killer was arrested in Jos
“The rapidity with which suspects escape from Police custody these days, give rise to serious concern over the ability and sincerity of the Police to prevent and detect crime,” Alhaji Abubakar Tsav told National Daily.
He further explained that “Unless there is connivance, conspiracy or gross negligence on the part of Police occasioned by corruption, it’s difficult for an accused person in Police custody to escape.
“All accused persons are supposed to be securely locked up in the cell and are supposed to be visited regularly by Police Officers and records of such visit made in the Station Diary.
“Movement of accused persons in and out of Police cell is also supposed to be recorded in the Station Diary. In addition to all these, every Police Station is required to have armed cell guard.”
If all these measures were adhered to and the police officers on duty are not negligent, not corrupt too and uphold the oath of allegiance they swore to on recruitment, the society would have less of these kind of problems to grapple with not to talk of the monumental insult it hoisted on the police as an institution.
Also speaking to National Daily, Mr. Don Okereke, a Security Analyst and Chief Executive Officer, (CEO) Holistic Security Background Checks Limited, noted that there could be error and also, suspect’s escape could be planned in collaboration with some security agents for suspects to escape from detention facility.
He explained that “It was becoming a trend and increasingly difficult to see it as a coincidence. The security or prison authorities are supposed to ensure that suspects/prisoners are ensconced.
Any solution?
The retired police CP Abubakar Tsav, without mincing words pointed out that “Police officers under whose custody an accused person escapes, is liable to disciplinary and criminal action depending on evidence available to substantiate the allegation.
To prevent further escape of accused persons from Police custody, he explained that Police Authorities must observe “the laws or rules relating to detention of accused persons and there must be close supervision of the working men/women.”
On his part, Okereke observed that it was an open secret that more often than not, prisoners/suspects in Nigeria bribe their way to have access to mobile phones and electronic devices in detention facilities.
While citing recent case of “Vampire” who was said to coordinated his “hits” from the prison using mobile phones; he pointed out that if some security agents could be so complacent and allow such high profile criminal to express himself and have access to gadgets, allowing such suspect to escape is an understatement.
In the light of this, the former Airforce officer warned that to avoid further embarrassment; especially among comity of nations, suspects, no matter the seriousness of the offence committed, should not be allowed to have unrestricted and unsupervised movement within police facilities.
He told National Daily that, “there ought to be a very strict chain of custody with regards to handling suspects/prisoners. There must also be measures to protect them from escaping. This means that the cells or prison must be well designed to be more accommodating irrespective of the numbers of detainees in such facility.
“Security must also be stepped up while escorting suspects to and fro the law court or detention facility noting that some policemen are too lax most times they take suspects to court as they are often left on their own while the police escort strolled out of the court leaving only the suspects in the court room. It is a vantage opportunity for a suspect to escape,” he reiterated.
If the problem of escape by suspects from police facilities must be checked, Adegoke espoused, there must be internal reengineering in the police force. Officers that are complacent, negligent and found to have assisted suspects to evade justice must be dealt with according to the details of the laws.
Until officers who assist, collaborate and engage in spurious corrupt practices and collude with criminals to evade justice and expose Nigerians to the whims and caprices of the criminals, we might, in the future experience more of such escape by criminals considering that they have enough money to throw around to buy their way through to the world of freedom.