Ukan Kurugh An open letter to the Inspector General of Police as the Police Service Commission retreats in Benue State. Our very own Inspector General of Police, I greet you with all sense of patriotism. I want to welcome you to Makurdi the Benue State capital as you retreat to deliberate on matters of national security vis-a- vis Police Service Commission. Take not my letter as one of them unguarded critics but look with pity upon us for whom youve not slept at night to keep safe as I implore you to read. As it is usual not to bore you with rhetorics,I will go straight to the point. There are several grevious and life threatening challenges we are experiencing in North-Central Nigeria,particularly Benue State that I want to bring to your attention. As the chief of Police,I expect that some of them wouldve been brought to your attention but maybe not with the exact emphasis of the situation on ground. I know that you know that the security of lives and property is a major duty of government and as such I believe that you would expedite action promptly in accordance with the oath you swore on the day of your appointment. This is not to second-guess the powers that be,but to lend a hand to my colleagues suffering destitution from 1) Incessant attacks from Fulani herdsmen. Fulani herdsmen have ravaged our towns and villages,sacked the indigenes and settlers and have themselves become the new occupants of our place of birth. As I write to you,Tatyough,Yogbo,Adaka and many other surrounding villages are inhabitable as they(fulani herdsmen)are the new occupants. I know you dont know these villages but they are all in Makurdi Local Government and are all within a maximum radius of 12 kilometres from the city centre. As you sit and deliberate, know in your heart that lives are being lost on the go just a few kilometres away from your venue. While we do not and cannot have intentions of stopping them from practising their age- long trade, we desire that paths be created for us to tolerate(not avoid)one another as we co-relate in this entity called Nigeria. I am left to imagine the economic and dietary deficit we will suffer if the beef,milk,hides and skin they produce vanished from our country. We need them. They play a key role in our economy,diet,ec o-system and natural balance but sir, you have to help us by packaging their routes and curbing their excesses.I sat down one morning and I began to imagine how far these people travelled to come to Benue and shed blood of innocent people. It is absurd and an infringement on our ancestral heritage. I beg you to hear us and please give us your favourable response and assurance on this matter. 2)The issue Im about to raise is a more grievious one. There is a unit of the police force in Benue State Command called Special Anti- Robbery Squad-SARS.This set of policemen have caused us a lot of damage and wasted our youths. While some of their nefarious activities are carried out by other police officers, SARS is a more prominent champion of these negative activities. Some of them include: unlawful arrest of law- abiding citizens, demand for bribe from these innocently arrested citizens, oppression of the people, breaking of the law themselves especially traffic rules and regulations, ignorance of the constitution of Nigeria and limits of the law amongst others. One thing that is known of SARS is torture. This set of officers are not patriotic sir. They torture people who are in detention to confess to a crime or crimes they know nothing about or sometimes are fabricated to make it look as though they are doing their jobs correctly. I recall a case of one Abraham Abado who was arrested at GTBank Makurdi for advocating for 2 young men who were being oppressed by your officers for wearing combat shorts. Like play like play he was paraded at the State Headquaters(after 2days of torture by SARS owing to his refusal to pay bribe)as a notorious armed robber who has been tormenting Makurdi and that he also robbed GTBank Makurdi. GTBank Makurdi has NEVER EVER been robbed. I implore you to investigate this matter through and through as an innocent law- abiding Abaraham Abado is today tainted with the stigma of a bank robber. 3) 2015 is around the corner. As a matter of fact,we are already caught by its fever. I want to state unequivocally that Benue is a hot bed for thuggery,hooliganism and electoral mal-practices. Ordinarily,I should expect that youre mobilising and strategising towards a rancour-free election but I wish to urge you to concentrate a considerable portion of your time,energy and resources on Benue. Thuggery has been institutionalised here in Benue. Young men are fast losing apetite for legitimate sources of income as thugs now own clubs,flashy cars,customised number plates,cutting-edge technological gadgets and other forms of flamboyance. This craze has taken Benue over and is a direct threat to our collective desire of a free,fair and credible election. If you do not act urgently on this issues,our generation of youth will be a cast-away. For a fact sir,I need you to know and understand that this is a battle for the future of Benue. As a senior stake-holder in the scheme of things,I implore you to expedite action on these 3 points as quickly as you can. You will not only be saving a deterioriating state but writing your name on the sands of time. On behalf of all patriotic citizens of Benue State and those who will learn patriotism by the unflinching enforcement of the law,i want to thank you for your audience and wish you a wonderful stay and deliberation in Makurdi. May God strengthen you as you steer us to a safer and crime-contained/ controlled Nigeria. -Written by Ukan Kurugh.
Posted on: Sat, 01 Feb 2014 06:55:30 +0000
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