Afeniforo: Service in Uniform with a Difference

· We are all too familiar with the men and women of the Nigeria Police. At least, at numerous illegal roadblocks, the familiar encounter is the ‘anything for the weekend’ request; or when one had cause to go to a police station to incident a complaint and seek police intervention, it is not unlikely to be met with a demand for money to open a file or buy paper. The general perception of the average citizen is that the rank and file of the police is corrupt. As a legal practitioner of almost four decades’ experience, I have had a fair share of encounters with men and women of our police force and I have some of them, ranging from the lowly constable to the top echelon as friends and acquaintances.

· On 8th July 2022, I received a report of theft of some items at my site in Mowe which necessitated making a complaint to the Mowe police station. The first thing that struck me when I got to the station was that I met four officers at the desk. Expectedly, I requested to see the head of the station, the DPO which prompted the most senior of the four to take me to an office. It was then I realised that the person who interacted with me at the desk was the DPO. To me, this was quite unusual as most protocol is that the DPO is the last person you will find at the station desk. I sought to know why SP Folake Afeniforo was found at the desk when I came in. Her explanation struck me that she is better off monitoring her station’s activities at close quarters, and not giving room for unnecessary delays and untoward conducts in attending to matters reported at the station.

· With finesse, her personal interrogation of suspects and fact-finding led to the resolution of the issue at hand such that within three hours, the location of the stolen items was discovered and were recovered. Suffice it to state that SP Afeniforo’s approach to the job is visibly reflected in her subordinates at the station, unlike what one will find at a typical police station. This is the kind of service delivery the public expects from our policemen and women. I can only but commend SP Folake Afeniforo and her subordinates at the Mowe Police Station and I am sure her unusual approach to duties will take her to places.

Chief Wale Taiwo,SAN FCArb