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"Policemen make us Pregnant in Detention" By Hakeem Babalola
Oroburuku t'oun t'erin… One should better laugh off these things unless one is ready for early grave. The title says it all. But I must have been living a deceitful life if I had thought something of this nature was not going on in the Nigeria Police Force. Whilst I welcome and support Inspector General Mike Okiro's prompt "full scale" investigation into the allegations that policemen impregnated some female prisoners in detention, I am sceptical about the outcome. This is largely due to the fact that similar past allegations had yielded no result. Dr. Okiro tries to find loophole in the Vanguard story saying, "the newspapers publication was unsubstantiated as it failed to indicate if there was a formal complain by the victims or their representatives, let alone time and date of incident". I don't know the police boss aim by his attempt to hogwash this profoundly disturbed story. But it would be sheer naivety for Nigerians to believe that our police officers will behave otherwise in a nation where leaders behave like dealers and, or thieves. According to the Vanguard, "members of the Nigerian police force secretly abuse, rape and forcefully have sex with inmates of Nigerian detention facilities". The paper continues, "To this end, many children born by the inmates are largely unclaimed". Vanguard discovered the horror during its visit to the nation's No 1 prison at Apapa, the Kirikiri Maximum Prisons in Lagos State. Do you expect anything different in a nation where another Force Officer stripped a woman naked, watched as his men dragged and beat the hapless woman? Do you expect anything different in a nation where children are constantly abused in the name of Christian teaching as in the case of Akwa Ibom Horror? I had opined somewhere else that Thank God Nigeria was not a jungle to which another commentator replied, "hmmm, but is Nigeria not a jungle/ how else to describe it?" The fact that men who supposed to be decent due to the nature of their job are shockingly cruel and inhumane is a testimony of our woeful plight like homeless people. How do we explain all these things? Policemen having sex with women in detention! And some of them have HIV/AIDS virus! Thank God Nigeria is not a jungle. Is there any law in Nigeria? Do our men in uniform have adequate training at all? Do they know the meaning of wearing uniform they are constantly abusing? Are they medically fit to be honoured to wear Nigerian uniform? What is actually wrong with our uniform men? Although I am no more surprised at their uncouth behaviour, I can't stop asking these questions. What evil often torments our law enforcement officers to behave in such a bestial nature? The other time it was women dressing "indecently" that gave the police such unmitigated effrontery to harass, detain and molest these innocent women - most of them married. For goodness sake, what does dressing indecently mean? And look at who is talking about indecency! The Nigeria police and the Nigeria government talking about impropriety! It sounds awkward to me. This is because both arms of government have done more harm to our psych than women "indecent" dressing. I prefer such indecent dressing to the police indecent demeanour or the government indecent exercise of authority. Of course men and women commit crimes everywhere, but the problem in Nigeria is that chief criminals often go scot-free. The system usually glorifies big thieves whilst petty thieves are hanged. And unless "Mr. President" intervenes, issues of this nature are often swept under the carpet. I hope Yar'Adua would step in so as to punish the real culprits. Wardresses and female prisoners, says the Vanguard, confirmed that policemen are fathers of more than 80 percent of pregnancies at the prison. How did it happen and how could it happen - in a country that has kings and chiefs? Yes, how did it happen since the police "are not authorised to have access to prison inmates to the extent of having sexual relationship with them"? "The prison harbours about 10 nursing mothers, over 15 expectant mothers and over 10 inmates living with HIV/AIDS virus in the female section of the Kirikiri Prisons". There was a case in which the inmate wanted to kill the child after putting to bed. The authorities had to detail people to watch and monitor her movement. So what is going to happen to these children who may not know their fathers? Who is going to take care of them since their mothers who have been obviously corrupted by prison experience may not have the capacity to nurture their development? Hmmm, is this the way to build a nation? The future of our children is in danger. In fact it has been in danger right from the moment education ceased to be the priority of Nigerian governments. If we had a responsible government, policemen would know their roles in the society; they would understand the calamity of fathering inmates in their care. Agreed or not, the blame is still at the door step of Nigerian leaders (or is it dealers). If they had not built the structure where one man can steal a horse while another must not look at its halter, our law enforcement officers will not lack manners being displaced every day. There is no other way to encourage police brutality or indecency than to use him as a thug to disrupt elections. What do Nigerians expect from officers who are being used by politicians to steal! Our law enforcement officers are also victims of our society. They use them and dump them. As a result, these policemen unleash their anger and frustration on the masses. A policeman who is being treated like a hoodlum would definitely behave likewise. He is dented and damaged. He has lost hope and do not believe in himself. He sees himself as a forgotten creature the Nigerian society dislikes intensely or feels aversion towards. In turn, he simply hates the society that has made him a mad fellow in uniform. He is certainly on the mission to inflict serious injury or even kill the inhabitants of the society that loathes him so much. The society has a duty. We need to remove the uniform from him before it is too late. This man is incorrigible, vicious, even sadist. He is a monster gradually nurtured by its owner - the Nigerian government. Now that he has fathered more than 80% of female prisoners, I sincerely hope these innocent kids would not be like him.
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