Police
One of the NPF’s core missions, according to its website, is “to build a people’s friendly Police Force that will respect and uphold the fundamental rights of all citizens.” However, the actions of the police, detaining innocent citizens arbitrarily, have fallen short of upholding citizens’ rights.
The most recent example of the NPF abusing citizens’ fundamental rights happened just a few days ago, bringing this disturbing trend to the fore once again.
‘NAIJA HAIR FACTORY’
Last Saturday, Adeola Akinmola, a Lagos-based businesswoman, took to her X (formerly Twitter) page, @ade_authority, to express dissatisfaction over the service delivery of Naija Hair Factory, a hair vendor.
Akinmola accompanied the posts with screenshots of Instagram conversations between her and the company. She narrated how she gave three of her wigs to Naija Hair on October 13 to help revamp and how they failed to deliver on time.
Four days after this post, the complainant was sleeping in a police cell in Bariga, Lagos.
The owner of the hair company had reported her to the police, and what was supposed to be a simple mediation and conflict resolution effort turned into the police detaining the customer.
Armed police officers
As if that wasn’t enough, the police force, which claims one of its mission is to uphold fundamental human rights, denied a lawyer access to Akinmola and locked her in a cell with other criminal suspects.
When she regained her freedom on Thursday morning, Akinmola told FIJ that Esther Odunmorayo, owner of Naija Hair Factory and the station’s DPO, planned her detention.
“I was just released a few minutes ago,” Akinmola told FIJ. “It was meant to be a dialogue. It was an honourable invitation, to start with, only for the lady to get there romancing the DPO, and they did not read my evidence or statement. The DPO just said they should charge me with cyberstalking and cyberbullying. Then they put me in the cell with criminals.”
When asked what Akinmola meant when she said Odunmorayo and the DPO were romancing, she said, “They were holding hands, hugging and all of that. Before he spoke with me about the incident, they came together.”
That was only one of the recent human rights abuses by the NPF.
ERISCO FOODS SAGA
Similarly, on September 17, 2023, a female customer, Chioma Egodi, posted a negative review of Nagiko Tomato Mix on social media.
She posted the image of the tomato tin which she bought from a store and wrote, “I decided to taste it. Sugar is just too much. “
In the post, the customer asked her followers who had used the same product to share their opinions and experiences with her.
“I went to buy tin tomatoes yesterday that I will use to make stew. I didn’t see Gino and Sonia, so I decided to buy this one (Nagiko). When I opened it, omo! I decided to taste it. Sugar is just too much. Haa biko (please) let me know if you have used this tin tomato before because this is an ike gwuru (tiring) situation,” Egodi’s post read.
Erisco Foods Ltd, the manufacturer of the product, subsequently petitioned the police and sought her arrest. The NPF promptly acceded to the request without question.
At the time of her arrest, Erisco Foods released an official statement claiming the social media user advised her followers to avoid the tomato paste because it was “not fit for human consumption.”
However, that was not true. Nowhere in Egodi’s post did she ask her followers to stop buying the product.
Nevertheless, the NPF provided itself as a willing, oppressive tool for a company that was too hurt by a customer review to make necessary changes. In a saner environment, the company would welcome the review to improve its product. Instead, it employed the services of the police to punish a customer.
Egodi spent at least three days in police detention. Now, she’s suing the company for N500 million.
The NPF says one of its values is building a lasting trust in the police by members of the public. But the reality is different. The force has presented itself as a willing tool for powerful members of society to oppress helpless citizens, further eroding any trust the public may have in the security agency.
No doubt, the public’s trust in the NPF is at its all-time low, and by continuing its practice of oppressing citizens, the force is doing itself and the country no good. Nigerians deserve a police force that cares and upholds their rights as the founders intended. Citizens shouldn’t have to deal with a security agency that cares more about appeasing powerful entities than fulfilling its oath to protect all citizens without partiality.
Therefore, the administration of President Bola Tinubu has a golden opportunity to earn the trust of Nigerians by embarking on true, comprehensive reform of the NPF, helping the force to uphold its own vision, mission, and core values. Nigerians need to start trusting their police again.
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