The media was agog with videos of a fight by two law enforcement agencies.This resort to violence over issues that could have been amicably resolved is one too many in Nigeria as instances abound on the application of similar approach by lawmakers and law enforcers in the not too distant past.As far as we are concerned,this is to state the least appalling and highly shambolic of agencies of their caliber.
When agencies saddled with the responsibility of enforcing the law break it with impunity, the common people are often taken aback and clueless.
This was the state of affairs yesterday at the premises of the federal high court in Lagos when officers of the department of state services and the Nigerian correctional service engaged each other in a fierce fisticuff over who should take custody of the embattled former central bank governor Mr Godwin Emefiele.
While we do not have the prerogative to adjudicate over who erred in this issue,our challenge lies in the damage such debased action will have on our already battered image in the international arena.We are also worried over the signals this uncultured attitude of supposedly trained officers could send to the common man on the street.
Our question to them is simple and unambiguous.Was the presiding judge not clear enough over which agency was to remand Emiefele? Was the approach they adopted the best way out of the issue? We could continue to ask a plethora of questions,however,the problem lies in their ability to provide requisite answers to questions posed.
Although,Nigeria has often featured in bad light over similar activities in the past.It behooves on the helmsmen of both agencies to launch an inquiry into the root causes of this aberration,while educating their officials on the standard operating procedures they must strictly adhere to.With this done,a press conference should be held and an apology tendered to Nigerians over the ugly incident that abused their sensibilities.Enough is enough,law enforcement agencies must show good examples to the citizenry after all,you cannot give what you do not have.
*Edidiong S.Akpabio, Author, Researcher and Public Affairs Analyst, can be reached on [email protected]
