By Okechukwu Nwanguma
If the Nigerian Police Force could deploy the same level of gallantry, urgency, and operational coordination in confronting bandits, kidnappers, and the notorious one-chance criminals terrorising Abuja, as they have just demonstrated in travelling from Abuja to Lagos to arrest a man over a marital dispute, Nigeria would be a significantly safer country.
In a dramatic show of force, police officers from the FCID in Abuja stormed the man’s Lagos residence, attempted to break in, and created panic within the community. When the man resisted the unlawful invasion – protected by a subsisting Federal High Court order – his neighbourhood leaders, seeking to avoid violence, prevailed upon him to open the door.
He complied.
He was immediately arrested.
And he is now being transported to Abuja.
This entire episode raises troubling questions about police priorities, professionalism, and the misuse of federal police resources. The energy, logistics, fuel, time, and manpower deployed for this civil matter – one that is already the subject of multiple pending matrimonial cases – are the same resources that Abuja residents desperately need in the fight against criminal gangs.
Imagine if this same operational zeal were applied to rescue kidnapping victims.
Imagine if police officers could mobilise across states with this level of commitment to dismantle one-chance syndicates.
Imagine if this enthusiasm were channelled toward arresting the violent criminals who make Abuja unsafe.
But no.
This impressive “efficiency” has been reserved for enforcing a private marital dispute – despite a valid court order, despite pending civil cases, and despite the Inspector-General of Police’s recent declaration that the Nigeria Police Force will not be used as an instrument for private interest.
The irony would be laughable if it weren’t so dangerous.
This is not policing.
It is the misdirection of state power. And it undermines public confidence in a time of worsening insecurity.
A police force capable of mobilising from Abuja to Lagos to arrest a man in a civil dispute is certainly capable of protecting Abuja residents from the criminal elements that torment them daily. The tragedy is that such gallantry is too often reserved for the wrong missions.
Until the police demonstrate this level of vigour in tackling genuine criminal threats, Nigeria’s security challenges will only deepen.
Mr Okechukwu Nwanguma is a human rights activist and Executive Director of
RULAAC
