The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, ignited an interesting social media debate last week, when he said anyone stopped for a search by the police could also ask to search the police man first before subjecting him or herself to the police search.
Of course, a majority of Nigerians, who knew better, had laughed this off, because it is tantamount to suicide in Nigeria to tell a police officer to surrender or submit himself for a search by a “bloody civilian”. Is it the same police officers to whom the people had been warned not to speak the Queen’s English for fear of being hurt or maltreated, since the average police officer is assumed to have inferiority complex?
Ironically, the truth is that the IGP wasn’t joking, but his directive is nothing but a huge joke. Honestly, the police leadership should consider first the retraining of their men and inculcating fresh orientations into them to be able to understand the demands of this age, while recruiting new hands with absolute circumspection. How do you want the public to carry out an order you have not even passed down to your men, many of whom also read it in the news – in an era of fake news? That is nothing but suicide, Mr. IGP!
