Police, no gree for kidnappers [OPINION]

By Olalekan Adetayo

The title of this column this week is deliberate. If it is described as provocative in some quarters, it is also understandable.

Cases of kidnapping are rising daily across the nation. From Abuja to Lagos, from Port Harcourt to Makurdi, no city is spared. It is the same with major highways from the Kaduna-Abuja Highway to the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, tales of woe abound.

The most trending case of kidnapping currently is that of six sisters who were kidnapped alongside their father in Abuja. Their father was said to have been released later with a mandate to go and raise N60m ransom to secure freedom for his daughters. The kidnappers were said to have killed the oldest of the daughters, Najeebah, when the ransom did not get to them on time.

Has it not been said repeatedly that the primary purpose of government is to protect lives and property? What then happens when citizens are kidnapped at will and some are even killed after these criminals must have collected ransom in millions?

The refrain has always been that ‘We are on top of the situation’ whether from the government itself or the security agencies directly saddled with the responsibility of ensuring the safety of citizens.

Truth must be told, it is not as if our security agencies or agents are not working. Whether their efforts are good enough so far is another matter entirely.

What I find baffling, however, is how some of these agencies or their spokespersons sometimes leave leprosy unattended while preoccupied with treating ringworm.

This is exactly the way I viewed the recent position of the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, on the popular slang, ‘no gree for anybody’, being used by youths and citizens across the country.

Many believe that the slang, that has already gained widespread attention, is about staying true to one’s beliefs and not easily succumbing to the influence of others. It is also seen from the view of defending one’s right and standing up against injustice among others.

For instance, in the way I used the slang in the headline, youths of a community being terrorised by bandits and kidnappers can resolve that they had had enough of such crimes against humanity and decide to defend their territory. Those in that position can easily talk about “no gree for kidnappers, bandits.”

Surprisingly, however, the youthful police spokesman feels otherwise. During a recent press briefing, Adejobi revealed that the police had received intelligence suggesting that the slogan had the potential to incite a revolution within the country.

He said, “Let me say that the new slogan for 2023, 2024 for our young ones is ‘no go gree for anybody.’ We have been informed from our intelligence that this slogan is coming from a revolutionary sector that may likely cause problems across the country. ‘No go gree for anybody’ is being seen as just a normal talk, but in the security business, in the security community, we have seen it as a very dangerous slogan that can trigger a crisis.”

I was shocked to hear this from Adejobi. What is wrong with youths or anybody for that matter standing up for their rights and protecting their territories? But the police spokesman played a fast one. He was quick to add that while laymen like me view the slogan as a “normal talk,” they in the security community have superior information and they are convinced that the slogan is capable of triggering crisis.

While I was still considering whether to agree with him since he is the spokesman of a key component of the said security community, another news flash came, and this time, from another prominent member of the security community Adejobi referenced.

The Director of Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, while addressing journalists openly used the same slogan that the police spokesman, in his wisdom, outlawed. This time, as if he was reading my mind, Buba used the slogan the same way I thought.

“Make Nigerians no gree for terrorists this year. You see something, you say something and we assure them of doing something,” he said in pidgin to journalists while urging Nigerians to prevent terrorists from having a free rein in the New Year.

Some laws are difficult, if not impossible, to enforce. This issue of the slogan is one of such. How will the police enforce this without further empowering the majority of the rank and file known for rights abuse?

This is the same way police commands in different states have been announcing the ban on the use of fireworks during festive seasons for years. It appears to me that they usually archive the press statements and dust them up once the festive seasons are approaching. Yet, even police stations are not spared when people use these fireworks to celebrate.

I am aware that the Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun, met members of the Police Management Team on Monday to review their strategies. What was the summary of what Egbetokun told his men? “No gree for these criminals.”

President Bola Tinubu also on Tuesday met behind closed doors with service chiefs at the Presidential Villa following the surge in the cases of kidnapping across the country. Adejobi’s boss, Egbetokun, was part of that meeting. What was the summary of what Tinubu told them? “No gree for these criminals.”

Earlier in the day, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, also met with the heads of security agencies in Abuja on the same matter. I am sure one of Adejobi’s superiors, the FCT commissioner of police, attended that meeting. What was the summary of what Wike told them? “No gree for criminals.”

The fight against this slogan is a battle that the police spokesman cannot and will not win. The more he tries to enforce his position on the matter, the more the slogans will continue to trend.

My advice, therefore, is that instead of taking that unpopular route, Adejobi should by now be thinking how he and members of his team can create mass media messages around that trending slogan to reach the people. If you cannot beat them, join them.

On this, Oga Adejobi, I no go gree for you!

Culled from The Punch