From time immemorial the Police Force is a respected security institution in the society, because of its important responsibility of maintaining public stability.
A society without the police is bound to face chaos and anarchy. The basic reason why so many countries and nations are passing through severe security challenges is as a result of weak and unbalanced police institution. The police are trained to tackle civil disturbances or uprising in the society, unlike the military who specialize in dealing with the external aggressions or attacks.
The police institution, due to its statutory duties of combating crimes is highly revered by the society. Police activities are the reflections of the image of a country. Most of the police officers serving in the Rivers State Command behave as if they have nothing to do with the laws of the land. They operate above the law. The police in Rivers State now constitute themselves as nuisance in the Port Harcourt Metropolis and its environs, harassing commercial drivers doing their legitimate business. In some occasions a police officer will openly fight with a taxi or commercial bus driver to extort N50 from him. Road blocks have returned to the state as police officers on duty use the opportunity to rob passengers and drivers of their valuable possessions by leveling certain unfounded allegations on them.
Last week, a police man fought with a driver at the popular Garrison Bus stop, Port Harcourt. Few months ago, a youngman was arrested by the police and taken to the Mile 1 Police Station. The reason for his arrest he was looked at a police officer who was extorting N100 from a hawker at Egede Street, Diobu. So many police officers in Rivers State are corrupt. We have come to an era when police officers no longer arrest or investigate criminal cases, rather they will divulge information to criminals to escape. We have touts, thugs, criminals and hoodlums in police uniform to terrorize the law-abiding citizens of the state. To sanitize the police force, the Federal Government or the relevant agencies or commissions should do something about the police force, by giving its officers the right professional training.###
Damiete West
