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Nigerian Police, What Manner of Investigation? By Abdallah Mailafia Shaibu
It is common knowledge that the Nigerian
Police is always in a hurry to arrive at a conclusion whenever a murder
or attempted murder case is being investigated. Why they have chosen
this part of absurdity is still a mystery to most of us. It appears as
if a thorough and detailed investigation is a taboo that must be avoided
at all cost. We are all aware that the Force has never, in its entire
history, been able to solve any murder case. Could this be the reason
why the Force prefers to ‘convert’ a murder or attempted murder case
into a robbery one?
Umar Njidah Pariya, an aide of Vice
President Atiku Abubakar was the target of hired assassins at his
Gwarimpa residence in Abuja recently. But because his appointed time has
not yet come, he was mysteriously not available at the time the armed
bandits called. However, they succeeded in injuring one of the house
helps and a mobile police officer attached to the house. The assassins
were not too lucky as one of them fell to the superior fire power of the
gallant officer.
It would be recalled that the same Umar
Pariya raised an alarm sometimes ago that he was being trailed by men
suspected to be assassins. To prove his seriousness, he sent his letter
of complaint to all the security agencies in the land. This came at a
time when the allegation and counter allegation of corruption between
the President and his vice was at its peak. Umar Pariya was relatively
an unknown personal aide of Vice President Atiku Abubakar before this
period. He became prominent when EFCC indicted him along with his boss
for financial impropriety. He then became an endanger specie to the same
group of people who would anything to rubbish the Vice President to
satisfy their personal desires.
What is so worrisome in the whole scenario
is the speed with which the FCT Police Commissioner, Lawrence Alobi,
concluded that the attack on Pariya was a case of armed robbery. Just
immediately after the attack, Alobi came out to publicly debunk any
linkage of the attack with assassination attempt on the life of Pariya.
According to him, it was a clear case of a bandit going to a house to
steal money. He shot himself in the leg by concluding that investigation
was still on going. If the police have not concluded investigation into
the maatter, why rush to the conclusion that it was a case of robbery
when there were ample evidences to suggest the contrary? Does the life
of the officer attached to the house not matter to the high ranking
officers of the Force?
From my little knowledge of investigation,
I know that there is nothing as difficult to solve as a murder case
without a motive. And most murderers endeavour to establish strong alibi
to dispel any linkage to them. But as they say, there is no perfect
crime. An attempt to cover up a lead results into blunders being
committed. In this particular case, it is never a perfect crime as will
be proved shortly.
Sometimes ago too, Vice President Atiku
Abubakar left his official residence to stave off attempts on his life.
This was based on intelligence reports made available to him by both
local and foreign security agencies. If he had not heeded the warning,
only God knows what would have become of him. The fact that he did not
keep quite about the issue did a lot to save his head. It became public
knowledge that some people were after his life and everyone knew those
that were behind the act.
In the case of Pariya, the assassins, in a
desperate move to whisk one of their own that fell to the superior fire
power, left behind a gun identified as the property of the Nigerian
Army. Alobi and his Force in Abuja could not see a lead here to work on.
These are men who would tell you that they have over twenty years of
experience in the Force. It is a shame.
For Alobi to have concluded so hastily
without any iota of investigation, lend credence to insinuations that
men of the Nigerian Police are usually privy to most robbery cases. Or
how else can one explain a clear case of attempted assassination of this
nature that Alobi is forcing Nigerians to believe that it was robbery
case?
To worsen matters, he concluded that
investigations into the matter were still on going. If he was sincere,
why did he jump to conclusion without awaiting the outcome of the
investigation? If he was so sure that it was a robbery case, why waste
our resources for further investigation when such resources could have
been channeled towards apprehending the suspects?
Several motives could be adduced to
explain the necessity to exterminate Pariya. One, he is a very close
aide of Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Therefore, it is not unlikely
that he would be in possession of vital information that will make him a
security risk to some quarters. Two, his elimination would have sent
signals to die-hard VP’s loyalists to stay off. Third, it would have
succeeded in destabilizing Atiku Abubakar. The dastardly act was
carefully planned to coincide with Atiku’s trip to the United States of
America. If they had succeeded, that would have affected the trip
somehow.
In the final analysis, I call on men of
the Nigerian police to put pressure on the Federal Government to give
them adequate training so that they can justify their continued
existence. Honestly speaking, if I have the means, I won’t hesitate for
a second to scrap the Nigerian Police. Their non existence will be more
beneficial to the Nigerian people.
Abdallah Mailafia Shaibu
No 8A Tudun Wada Street
Lafia, Nasarawa State
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