‘I Had A Fulfilled Police Career’—Alapini

 

 

 

 

Q: How do you feel retiring after 35 years of service?
A: I am happy that at least I can decide my destiny, decide my fate. I can decide where I am going to sleep and where I am going to wake up. Before, you could only guarantee when you woke up, you could not guarantee where you would sleep.

 

Q: What influenced your career choice?
A: Joining the Nigeria Police Force wasn’t by design or choice but to prove a point by daring to do something. The trend in the 60s and 70s when you finished secondary school was for you to take up an appointment in the ministry as a clerical officer, which was routine. You know the university system was such that once you finished secondary school, you first worked for about nine months because September/October is when you would go into the university. So, I am part of that generation of individuals. After I finished secondary school in 1970, in 1971 I started working in the High Court of Lagos State. And I was attached to the Lagos State Armed Robbery Tribunal. The Chairman then was my uncle, Justice Gomez. Then we used to have military members and police members. And Brigadier Bako was a member. Bako was killed in a military coup sometime ago. General Ishola Williams was also a member at one time. We used to have Mr. Obi Epebi who was a Police member. That was the time of Oyenusi and Mighty Joe in terms of robbery. We handled those cases. After sitting in court we would go back to the chambers. We would start looking at the situation and I was always criticising the police. And the police member of the Tribunal was always saying ‘my son, if you know that you can do this thing, why don’t you come and join the police and do it’? And I said yes, I would do it. My uncle now said ‘I beg let him join, every time he will be criticising the police.’ Then, I said I would join. Not long after that, they brought the forms for me at one of the sittings. They said I should come and join the cadet programme. I said yes, I would fill it and join. I filled the form and they took it away. After about two months or so, they sent someone to come and call me saying ‘today is the interview o’. That time, Lagos State Command was at Lion Building. From Lion Building to High Court is not very far. So the police top brass sent his rider to come and pick me up. That was how I went into it. I went for the interview and training. I’ve never regretted being in the police force.

 

Q: Can it be said that your enthusiasm was fired right from day one or it took you some time to start developing real interest?
A: No, when I got there, my Omo Eko (Lagos born, Brazil quarters, Popo Aguda) life came to bear. We were not used to hard life. And then training in Police College wasn’t that easy. At times, I would want to run away. I had a lot of friends with whom I had to bond and we were like one family. If you wanted to run away, they had a way of dissuading you from the idea. The idea was ‘If you run, all of us too will run away’. They said ‘you are looking at the bad side of things, why not look at the good side’? The idea was that since we were all friends we should stick together. Based on that, I stayed on. And I think I never regretted being in the force, serving for 35 years. Not everybody in the Nigeria Police force will be able to serve for 35 years. Some would have attained the age of 60 before the 35 years service limit, while some will fall by the way side.

Q: You studied criminology, so how do you feel that the police cannot unravel some serious murder cases?
A: Well, if you’re talking about studying criminology, for an investigation into a case, if it does not concern you, will you poke-nose? It’s not your business. And most of the time if you have incidents that concern my area, I try as much as possible to make sure I do justice to it.

 

Q: Anytime the name Alapini is mentioned, what comes to the mind is public relations in the Police Force. How will you compare the Police image when you started and now?
A: I will leave that one for you to judge because a lot of people have been saying that since I left the Public Relations Department I took away Public Relations from the Nigerian Police Force. But I don’t think so. I think it is my relationship with the press that lingers on, and they are not trying to see others performing. Others are doing their best. But I think I was the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, at a very difficult time. That was the period of the National Democratic Coalition,NADECO. That was the period of June 12, when there was agitation for a democratic system, rule of law and so many things. And focus was on all key individuals in government and I happened to be one of them at that time. I was able to do one thing. That is, draw a line between being a Public Relations Officer for the Nigeria Police and the Press Officer for the Inspector-General, IG. They are two different things. If I am going to be Force Public Relations Officer, I am the Public Relations Officer for the Nigeria Police Force, not for the Inspector-General of Police. The Inspector-General of Police is part of the Nigeria Police Force. Whatever you want to know, whatever a DPO must have said, whatever an area commander must have said, whatever a commissioner of police must have said in respect of any matter, whether an AIG or even IG, you will still come to the Force PRO to understand what ABC said. ‘What do you mean by this thing?’ It is me who will sift the shaft from the wheat and tell you this is what they meant by what they said. So, I see myself as the last line of defence for the Nigeria Police Force. And when it is necessary or desirable for me to talk on behalf of the I.G, I do not talk on behalf of the IG as a person. I talk on behalf of the Inspector-General of Police, which is part of the Nigeria Police Force. And I carried the press along and where I think I don’t understand anything in terms of how to present my case, I called them. I say ‘look, this is the dilemma or situation. I don’t want to speak from two corners of my mouth, how do we address this issue’? They’ll tell me ‘ah, egbon, it’s because of you o’ and they would advise me. You see, when you throw your confidence into people, they will give you back that confidence. I think that is why I still benefit from the goodwill of the press today.

 

Q: You are leaving the Police as an Assistant Inspector-General, AIG. Do you have any regret not becoming IG?
A: Somebody has to be IG–only one person. And getting to the post of the Inspector-General of Police, you have so many quality materials. And you have a lot of people within the Nigeria Police Force who can be the Inspector-General of Police. But only one person must be there. So when you have one person, you support him. Mr. Okiro, the IG, is my friend and we started all this work together and had been moving around together. I must make sure he succeeds. And that’s what I’ve been trying to do. And anytime I see anything wrong I go to him and say ‘Oga, this is the way you go about it, this is the AIG talking to you and advising you on certain things’, and we’ll laugh over it. He will say ‘no o me I no go forget my friend o’. We give him our advice. It is left for him to take it or do it the way he wants it.

 

Q: You’ve seen it all in the Nigeria Police. Now, given your background, your profession, what you studied in the University, what are those things you recommend to improve the police. For example in the movies, if a crime is being committed here and an old woman just called the police on phone from an obscure apartment, you’ll hear sirens blaring the next minute. What can Nigeria, or the Police do to attain that type of response?
A: Let me correct that impression. It is not so. Lagos here I have seen people calling that ‘Tunji, I have to credit you, the police are really working. There was a robbery in my area and within four minutes, policemen were there’, I felt happy. But because it does not concern you, it is the ones that escape, the grey area that you know. But those other people who benefited from this prompt response are not telling the world for people to know. Yes, we might not have the kind of police that we are all looking for, but we can see that, plus, minus, everything will be right. I think everything hinges on leadership, where we would have a focus to say, yes, this is the training we want for our men. All policemen must go back and say ‘yes, where have we erred?’ What is going to be my contribution to the success of this force? We’re talking about policemen collecting money on the streets. That is obvious for everybody to see and only a stupid man would deny that fact. But what are the sanctions we are giving? These boys are being arrested and dismissed everyday, but they won’t stop. What is the problem? It is now left for us to find out and go back to the drawing board, because there is no area where you have a policeman on the street with all these negative behaviour that you don’t have it being covered by a division. If you have that kind of a situation, what is the DPO doing? What is the area commander doing. So, by the time you put everybody on his toes, so that they can be alive to their responsibilities, we would all have the kind of police force that we want. But I believe the policemen we have now need to be retrained. So, we must have a leader who will be able to find the environment and the way to convey this message. A leader who will be able to say okay, we’re talking about training, how do we train these people? What are the things we want to train them for? Where are we going to train them? If those to train them will be resource persons from outside, get these resource persons to train them. I think with that we should be able to get the Police Force that we desire.

But I am aware that sometime ago the present IG made some moves to train some cops abroad as forensic analysts and whatever. Well, training them is one thing, while giving them the tools to work with is another. I remember the last time I was watching television when my cousin, Funsho Williams, was killed. I saw a lot of people in the place. I was telling my friend while watching TV that it was not the right way to treat a murder scene? You find governors and top officers coming to visit. I just said to myself: ‘what is this?’ And since then we have had many similar cases and what you see there are policemen, civilians, sympathisers, spectators, trampling on evidence. And when that one came up the first thing those they brought from abroad said was ‘what are we coming to investigate here when evidence has been destroyed and everything’! Then my friend who was with me said ‘that was exactly what you said the first day we saw this’. So when we’re talking about these things we should train officers on investigative methods. We should train people in the area of forensic examination so that when you need them you can call them together to fashion out what you require in terms of investigation. But there is a limit to what you can suggest. If it is convenient they take it. If it is not convenient they may not take it and there is nothing you can do more than to just resign yourself to fate.

 

Q: Do you see Nigeria getting to a situation whereby at every corner in a city, you have close circuit TV monitoring everything?
A: I am a member of the Vision 2020. That’s why I am in Lagos, on my way to Abuja for a meeting. I am in the security thematic area. All these things you are talking about we all know helps to piece evidence together. Some of these close-circuit television sets abroad are remote controlled, while some are hired. Some are positioned in such a place that they are maintained nearly every week. You have to clean them (because of the traffic going on the road) of soot, dust and everything. How many of such things do you think we can get in this country? Can we really power these things? Is it going to be solar? Do we have maintenance culture? Now, we’re talking about maintenance. By the time you put these CCTVs on ground. Like if you have it on Lagos Island, they may have a Central Control System at Falomo. You have one at Idumota and one at Marina. Maybe another one in Tinubu, Central Lagos. All those things are aired so that in their control room they are watching their areas. Anything that is going beyond their areas, they are telling the next person. These people sitting and watching so many close circuit television and monitoring must have the environment made comfortable for them to be able to work. If he must remain there and continue to watch, there must be somebody to provide his needs. But are we ready to provide all these things? Won’t people still come over, and seeing people watching the TVs, drinking coke and eating sandwich say “Ah policemen dey enjoy o”!  We can get there. But we need the support of members of the public. We need the support and backing of government. The government too must know that security is not cheap.

 

Q: When you were in Ogun state, there was this soap manufacturer, Tiamiyu, who was alleged to have killed people for money making ritual. Then you said that some people were trying to put pressure on you. What kind of pressure were you talking about?
A: I can’t remember ever saying some people were trying to put pressure on me. But what I can remember is that I never knew the man before his arrest. And when a lot of highly placed individuals were coming to find out the true position of things, perhaps that was what you’re calling pressure. I was surprised about the calibre of persons that showed interest in the matter? So there wasn’t any pressure at all.

 

Q: What is your reaction to the way the former I.G, Tafa Balogun, was treated by the EFCC? Some say he deserved it, while others say no. Where do you stand?
A: Let me tell you, Tafa Balogun was not the one dragged on the floor. It was the Nigeria Police Force. Any IG should know that he is living in a glass house and that everybody is watching him. So the best is expected of that individual. If along the line you do something wrong, that does not mean that he should now be treated with contempt. No matter what, he was the Inspector-General of the Nigeria Police Force. If you go to Force Headquarters, his picture is there, as having served the police force as the head. So, you’re dragging the entire police in the mud. If he has committed any offence and he needs to be arrested, and charged to court do that. Nobody is above the law. But let’s give respect to those who deserve respect. He should have been given that kind of respect. I believe it was exuberance on the part of those who did that. People were blaming Ribadu but Ribadu wasn’t there. He did not go there. It was an incident that occurred and those at the spot decided that this was the way they wanted to handle it. So, if those people behaved shamefully, those are the people we should blame.

 

Q: What is your reaction to the way Ribadu left the Police?
A: Which way?

 

Q: The way the police eased him out?
A: The police did not ease him out. He eased himself out. Ribadu is one of my officers, a friend, an ‘aburo’ someone that pays me respect. Within the services there is decorum and discipline is expected of us and certain rules guide us. We cannot start a football match and at half time try to change the rules. It’s obvious that if you are in service, this is what is expected of you. And from all that happened to Ribadu, as I read in the newspapers, I think he is the architect of his misfortune.

 

Q: What is the next plan now? Are you joining politics?
A: Politics? No! I can’t join. All politicians are my friends. Majority of the senators are my friends. There is no governor that is not my friend. But with the way they play politics? Number one, I don’t have money. Number two, I cannot lie. I am a straightforward person. So, there is no way I can go into politics.

 

Q: Is it possible to have a corruption-free police force?
A: I don’t think we can ever have a corruption free society. As long as opportunities and temptations are there, you cannot eradicate it, but you can minimise it. And the only way you can do this is to put a lot of sanctions.

 

 

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