Special Report: Kafanchan Police Division: A Haven For Bigotry, Corruption And Injustice

The Nigerian police, like every other police in the world was created to serve in the area of maintaining law and order in the society. This, by implication, means that the quest for social justice cannot be possible without the police.

The Police ought to be an institution built on fairness, justice and equity. Officers, men and suspects are to be treated equally regardless of their tribes or religion.

This is not the case of the Kafanchan Division of the Nigerian police. The Division under the leadership of the incumbent Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Superintendent of Police (SP) Idris M. Gumel, has seen the division, which is meant to manage the diversity of the people of the area transformed into a breeding ground for bigotry, corruption and all forms of injustices.

SP Idris Gumel as described by many, including police officers who spoke to this reporter on conditions of anonymity, is a man who favours people from his ethnic group and faith over those from the opposite faith.

“That man is not fit to be a National police officer, he is supposed to be a Hisbah Policeman in Kano. He brings religion to the Division here in Kafanchan, suspects are now punished not based on crimes committed but based on their faiths and ethnicity” a junior officer serving in Kafanchan told this reporter.

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Some bad eggs in the Division have also copied the dangerous style of policing from the DPO, they also treat suspects based on their faiths and ethnicity thereby applying different laws to different folks. The popular animal farm illustration by British writer George Orwell is exemplified in the Kafanchan Division.

It would be recalled that some youths of Southern Kaduna extraction were arrested during the failed June12 protest in Kafanchan. The youths who spoke to this reporter confirmed that they were subjected to torture by Muslim officers on the order of the DPO.

“We were shocked too as only the Muslim officers took part in torturing us. We were tortured and injured for simply daring to hold a peaceful protest in Kafanchan. It became obvious that the Division operate based on religious sentiments” Shedrack Danladi one of the detained youth said.

SP Idris Gumel is also accused of being the judge and executioner over every case brought to the Kafanchan Division thereby violating laid down procedures of policing.

“As the most senior officer in the Division he ought to be providing oversight functions to the other officers below him, unfortunately, he does everything himself just so he keeps the benefits to himself” another policeman revealed.

When asked about what he meant by ‘keeping the benefits to himself’? The policeman spoke further;

“Whenever someone commits a crime that is ‘huge’, the DPO, being the one always handling cases which is not supposed to be, steps in and bill them some amount of money, once they pay, the case is killed without arraigning the suspects to court. Only those who cannot meet his financial demands are charged to Court.

Look at how he is handling the issue of the young boy arrested for alleged gunrunning, see how they have tortured and injured that boy who is a vigilante known even by some of us the police, simply because he is a Christian. A few weeks ago, a Fulani man was arrested in Mariri for supplying a Hausa man in Kafanchan with a foreign-made AK47. That man was not tortured by anyone because he is Fulani but look at what is being done to Geoffrey who was caught with a locally made rifle.” The visibly angry policeman said.

This reporter interviewed some victims of such ‘extortions’ in Kafanchan and environs and they all confirmed the allegations to be true.

A pastor who craved anonymity told this reporter that last week when the news of the arrest of Geoffrey Ayuba got to him, he went to the station to see the suspect who happens to be his fellow vigilante member. On reaching the station, the DPO, SP Idris Gumel, ordered that he be detained on allegation that he is an accomplice.

“When I got to the station and inquired about Geoffrey, the DPO ordered that I be detained on allegation that I am an accomplice to the suspect. He later said I need to pay N100,000 for bail, but I pleaded and paid N30,000 before I was released” the pastor said

Another Policeman who also craved anonymity for fear of victimisation told this reporter that SP Gumel is a fanatic who openly refers to non-Muslim officers as “arna” a Hausa word for a pagan.

“After pictures of the tortured Geoffrey Ayuba went viral, the DPO came to the station and was saying that the arna (pagan officers) are the ones that leaked the pictures to the public. That is not the first time, he always refer to us as arna and openly shows biases against us.

“Muslim officers will commit an offence and get a pat on the back but when non-Muslims do even less, they get punished. Sometimes, detained for many days over very little offences.” the young officer said.

A resident of Kafanchan whose daughter was allegedly sexually molested by a certain young man, also narrated how the accused was released by the DPO instead of being charged to court.

“We didn’t even know that the man who was accused of molesting my daughter has been released from police custody until he went about making jest of my daughter in public, taunting her and even telling her that he is now free. Later we got to know that he paid the DPO some amount of money to be freed.

“We then took the case to the Civil Defence office in Kafanchan and the accused was rearrested, the case was also reported to the Salama center in Kafanchan. When the DPO heard that we have taken the case elsewhere, he began to threaten my family and even arrested and detained me for a day.

We are happy because the Salama center took up the matter which is already in court.” he said.

This reporter also interviewed Mr Marafan Tsoriang, a Kafanchan based activist, Tsoriang said SP Gumel poses a serious security risk to Kafanchan and environs.

“Apart from being an extortionist, SP Gumel is also a religious fanatic who places Muslim policemen above their non-Muslim counterparts. He uses the Muslim policemen for illegal arrests, detentions and torture in the Division.

People are seriously complaining about him but many cannot even share their stories for fear of being victimised by him. We appeal to the police hierarchy to investigate the many allegations against Gumel and possibly transfer him out of Kafanchan before he causes a religious crisis. The tension is really high in the town.”  Tsoriang said.

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