By FRED CHUKWUELOBE

“If you were Igbo, I would have detained you.”

This is what a police officer told a UK returnee whom he stopped and searched at one of the ubiquitous roadblocks that dot our roads, especially in the South East geopolitical zone. I will come to this later.

According to the video trending on social media, the irresponsible police officer had stopped the returnee and demanded a bribe, as they typically do. The fellow refused, asking him instead to check his documents. Upon collecting his driver’s licence and examining it for no reason in particular, the officer noticed that the man’s name was not Igbo. He then unashamedly told him that he was lucky he was not Igbo.

“If you were Igbo, I would have destined you,” he said.

Let us look at the implications of this reckless statement. What has being Igbo got to do with checking vehicle particulars? What have Igbo people done to deserve being profiled in this country? Why should a person’s ethnic identity determine whether he is harassed, detained or allowed to proceed?

If it is not political leaders of other ethnic nationalities targeting the Igbo, it is some religious leaders making reckless statements about them. There seems to be no hiding place for Igbo people in this country. Everywhere they go, there appears to be somebody suffering from Igbophobia. Now it is a police officer at a checkpoint openly exhibiting his own prejudice.

It is possible that this irresponsible officer could have extorted countless Igbo people who ply that route or whichever route he mounts his extortion points. It is also possible that some unfortunate Igbo people could have been wrongfully arrested because of such prejudice. Who knows?

It does appear that the Nigeria Police has an Igbo problem too, and some officers do not even attempt to hide it. Otherwise, how does one explain the extraordinary concentration of police checkpoints on the approximately 45-kilometre Onitsha-Enugu Expressway? The same scenario is repeated on virtually every major road across the South East geopolitical zone. Meanwhile, when you travel through roads in other parts of the country that are ravaged by blatant insecurity, you hardly encounter such a concentration of checkpoints.

Some people may dismiss this officer’s outburst as merely “a flash in the pan” – an isolated incident. I do not think so. Igbo businessmen and other travellers go through harrowing experiences on Nigerian roads daily. Many have become so accustomed to these encounters that they simply endure them in silence.

I was a victim once on the notorious Lagos-Benin Expressway in 2006.

A Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) stopped me right in the middle of the expressway. Behind me was a speeding articulated vehicle. To avoid being crushed along with my cousin who was traveling with me, I immediately steered my vehicle onto the shoulder of the road. To my surprise, the DSP came over, collected my documents and warned that if I tried that again, he would shoot me.

Mouth agape, I asked him how, and whether he had not seen the speeding truck behind me. I asked if he wanted both of us crushed.

He looked me straight in the face and said, “I don’t care. If he crushes you, it is the report I file that the authorities will believe.”

He then walked away with my papers, leaving me completely dazed.

Unfortunately for him, I called the former Inspector General of Police, who was then a Deputy Inspector General (DIG). I narrated my experience, and he asked me to hand the phone to the officer. The moment the DSP saw the DIG’s name on my phone, his entire demeanour changed. He started responding, “Yes, sir… Yes, sir,” like somebody possessed. He quickly covered his name tag with his hand, returned my documents and literally ran away.

That is just one experience. There are many others, and many other people have stories of their own.

I readily acknowledge that every society gets the kind of police force it deserves. Corruption in our society is endemic, systemic and systematic. I usually do not single out the police whenever I discuss corruption because they are, in many respects, a reflection of the larger society.

But there is something about the Nigeria Police that makes me wonder whether the institution will ever truly be reformed. Many of them are not only reckless but they shame the service by the manner they openly extort money from people.

Make no mistake about it. There are good officers – hardworking, disciplined and professional men and women – serving in the Force. But the activities of irresponsible officers like this fellow make their modest efforts pale into complete insignificance whenever the image of the police is discussed.

The police authorities must fish out this officer and ensure that he does not spend one extra day in service if the allegations are established. Every case he handled should be reviewed to ensure that innocent people were not unjustly arrested or prosecuted because of his apparent ethnic prejudice.

This matter is serious. It goes beyond one careless statement. It raises troubling questions about ethnic profiling, abuse of power and equal treatment before the law.

Igbo political leaders, civil society organisations and the police hierarchy should take this matter seriously. No Nigerian should have to fear harassment because of his ethnic identity.

This issue represents a clear and present danger to every Igbo traveller who encounters irresponsible police officers like this.

•Fred Chukwuelobe, seasoned journalist, is a former Senior Special Assistant to the Governor (Media and Publicity), Anambra State.

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