THE WICKEDNESS OF NIGERIAN SECURITY PERSONNELS, A BIAFRAN NARRATES HIS ORDEAL

THE WICKEDNESS OF NIGERIAN SECURITY PERSONNELS, A BIAFRAN NARRATES HIS ORDEAL

By Praise Onwuachu

Published by Family Writers.

I left Owerri on Monday, 26th Dec., 2016 after
covering a wedding ceremony (I run a media
outfit).
I drove from Owerri to Onitsha with no incidence.
On getting to Nkpor Junction, I was stopped by
policemen and asked if I had my tinted glass
permit. I answered "yes", and I was told to park.
As I was retrieving my documents, the one who
stopped us said in an angry tone, "so you don't
want to come down?"
I told him I wanted to get the documents he
asked for before alighting from my car. Already
angry (it seemed he was angry and drunk before
stopping us), he asked all of us (5 guys) in the
car to come down for searching.

We complied. Starting with the guy in front, he
searched the boys with me. He harassed them
and made derogatory statements as he searched
them. While he was conducting his search, one of my
boys who he had searched told me he wanted to
go (we were parked a walking distance from his
house).
I said to him, "it's fine, provided you make it out
tomorrow before 5am" (we had another wedding
to cover at Awka the next morning). We had this
conversation in the presence of the policeman.
The guy then went to the trunk of the car to pick
his bag (which had not been searched), and the
police man told him to bring it for searching.
He brought it and told him to search him so he
could go...
At this point, things escalated...
The policeman in anger started calling him an
animal and several other names. I decided to
wade in at that point. I told him in the most
polite and gentle manner that there was no
reason to get agitated and abusive, because we
had not gone against his orders and had done all
he asked us to do. My gentle intervention
seemed to worsen the situation as he said he
had every right to call him an animal for as long
as he wanted.

At this point, he was shouting, and almost
immediately, he pushed the guy by his throat.
He kept at it until I stepped in between him and
the guy, telling him he should stop as the guy
had done nothing to warrant such assault (I must
admit, my voice wasn't gentle at this point, but
whose voice would be in the face of such
violence?)

He then shifted his attention to me and a lot
happened within minutes. He first slapped me,
then held me by my throat. I pushed his hands
away from my throat and that infuriated him the
more.

Immediately I pushed his hands away, he, while
shouting that I dared touch him, released the
safety catch of his rifle ('corked' his gun) and
pointed it at me to shoot.

In self-defense, and not having the luxury of
time, I hit the nozzle of the rifle away from me
and went for his gun to stop him, as he seemed
hell bent on shooting.

As we fought for the gun, his colleagues all
came, and it was a competition of who was
gonna 'cork' his gun fast enough. Thankfully, the
crowd that had gathered got involved and
physically held them from shooting. With more
people involved and the threat of shooting gone,
they continued their assault, hitting me and the
other guy with their guns, kicking, punching &
slapping (they left me barely able to walk to my
car, I still limp as I type this).
This continued until my father was called to the
scene.
I'm telling my story, because I'm angry.
Angry because I would have joined the statistics
of those gunned down in their prime by the
people that should be protecting them.
I'm angry because I would have been another
news item, just like the man they shot dead at a
filling station in Owerri on 22nd Dec, a man who
came back to Nigeria for his wedding slated for
27th Dec.

I'm Angry because I know this has been going on
and will keep going on until we raise our voices
enough to be heard.
Angry because one of them later boasted that he
would have still shot me if he was the one and
that the worst that would happen is 'the news
will carry it'.
I'm angry because it would have been me
(someone's son, brother, cousin, nephew) and
tomorrow it could be you or me (again) or your
brother, father, sister, wife, husband, fiance.
Angry because our continued collective silence
will mean we will birth kids in a society where
they go out in the morning and you worry if
today will be the day a mad policeman shoots
him.
I'm angry and you should be too.
Don't wait until it gets to your doorstep before
you act. Let's share this until it gets to the right
people.
UMOH ANIEKAN , OKOI OKOI , EKECHI JACOB
and others (stationed at Nkpor junction, Anambra
state) whose names I couldn't get should not be
allowed to continue to terrorise the people they
took an oath to protect.