PRINCE DELE BAMISAYE California, USA1977/82 Set

Corrupt practices amongst the Nigerian Police dated “Past Britannica and Post Nigeriana”. It is as old as the Nigeria Police itself. Imagine a police officer who was claiming ownership of a property belonging to another person, despite the fact that the owner’s names were boldly written on the particular property.

Once upon a fateful Friday at Ekiti Parapo College, Ido-Ekiti, precisely about 4pm in February 1982, we were doing our laundry at the usual Baba ’Yiọla’s brook. I was in the company of Ẹsan Rufus, Toyin Akindahunsi, Ebenezer Ologuntoye and some other students. Usually, junior students were made to fetch water to the teachers’ quarters in town, and in most cases, they would not bring the buckets back to the school again. The last time I saw my bucket was 1980 when I was in Form Three.

One of the advantages of EPC to Ido Community was that people living around the school came to the brook to fetch water for domestic purposes. As we were washing our clothes, I saw a boy who came from the town to fetch water. The bucket he carried caught my attention. Lo and behold, the bucket belonged to Fadeyi Gabriel, one of my classmates, whose name was boldly written on the bucket. Without wasting time, I collected the bucket from the boy who ran back home probably to report what happened to his parents.

About an hour later, the boy came back in the company of his father who was a policeman. Both were accompanied by another policeman in uniform. The boy pointed at me as the one who collected the bucket from him. Instantly, the policeman in uniform arrested me and later arrested Ẹsan Rufus. We were ordered to carry the bucket containing wet clothes to the police checkpoint in front of the school gate. Meanwhile, Toyin Akindahunsi had escaped and ran to the hostel to inform Fadeyi Gabriel of the incident. When we got to the police checkpoint, Ebenezer Ologuntoye tried to persuade the policemen to release us but instead, he too was arrested.

As we tried to make our case to the most senior police officer at the checkpoint, Fadeyi Gabriel arrived at the scene whereupon he lifted the bucket up to check its bottom, for we often our names there. After he confirmed that it belonged to him, he poured the wet clothes on the floor and hit the bucket on the head of the policeman whose son brought the bucket to the brook. As soon as he did that, he ran back to the school compound with a uniformed policemen in hot pursuit. The three of us that were arrested were marched to the police station where the DPO threatened to kill us without any consequences.

After a while, Fadeyi Gabriel and the policeman came back to the station. At this point, I was afraid, thinking that the principal had travelled. A few minutes later, the principal, Mr. J. O. Alabi, came in his white Peugeot 504, OD 232 R saloon car. We were more than happy. When the DPO saw the principal, he changed his tune. He begged the principal to have the case settled amicably. The principal requested that the bucket be brought for him to see, but alas, the bucket had again been taken to the town. The principal told the DPO that he wanted to see the bucket and the DPO promised to bring the bucket to the school.

One week later, the principal saw the policeman in town and stopped him to ask for the bucket. He promised to bring the bucket on Saturday of that week. The principal sent for me and told me to tell my friends to come to his house that Saturday by 5pm to meet the man with the bucket. The man failed to come.

Till tomorrow, we never saw the man, neither did we see the bucket. My question is that when the most senior police officer saw the name and address on the bucket, what other evidence did he need to confirm the ownership of the bucket? We need a refined and honest Nigeria Police if we want a safe and secured society.