On Dismissed Police Officers

These three police officers: Momoh Sulaiman, an inspector; Emmanuel Monday, a sergeant; and Adamu Usman, a sergeant, were last week dismissed by the Lagos command, after being found guilty of tear-gassing one Ademuwagun Solomon, near China Town in Ojota, Lagos.

The announcement was made by Mr. Chike Oti, a superintendent of police and the force’s spokesperson, who claimed the officers were convicted in an orderly room trial. But as encouraging as that sounds, the police must begin to keep tabs on their men, especially those dismissed on sordid grounds, as they do other citizens in their bid to secure the society.

The recent Offa robbery offers genuine grounds for this position. A dismissed Michael Adikwu, who was disappointed at the treatment allegedly meted out to him by the force, led the robbery operation and was allegedly directly involved in the killing of his former colleagues, nine of them. Had the police kept tabs on him, they probably would have an insight into his latest pastime and that would have helped to foil the operation. But going forward, it is hoped that the force would learn from that unpleasant experience and learn to take little things that matter seriously.