NIGERIA MASTERWEB DAILY NEWS

*Nigeria Has One Of The Most Dangerous Roads

By Masterweb Reports

According to World Health Organization (WHO), traffic fatalities kill nearly 50,000 people a year in Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation flattered by the West as "Giant of Africa". WHO attributes the high accident rate to bad roads and places Nigeria third, behind China and India in terms of road traffic deaths.

Corruption is the bane of Nigeria's under development, infrastructural decay and insecurity. With due respect to members of the police force that are dedicated to protection of lives and property, many of the force members can easily be described as armed robbers. These police armed robbers at checkpoints only collect money from motorists, at night some of them will rob and even kill late commuters arriving a checkpoint, a lone vehicle. There is no speed limit, no laws against alcohol consumption and drug use on Nigerian roads. Some motorists will not get behind the steering unless they are drunk because they believe alcohol makes them drive better. Many police officers drink and use drugs on duty. Some of these officers would have consumed twelve bottles of beer by the end of the day. They are openly drinking at beer parlours in cities like Aba while on duty with their guns beside them. ( Continues below….. )

Photo Above: A police officer at a checkpoint

People speed dangerously on potholed poorly maintained Nigerian roads and the police does nothing but collect money from them. Speeding vehicles driven by drivers under the influence of alcohol, drugs or stimulants crash head-on into each other on a seemingly daily basis. The roads get worse at night with the menace of armed robbers of which criminal police elements are amongst the perpetrators. Simply put, "Nigerian roads are dangerous" and these include city streets at night.

Corrupt Nigeria police personnel illegally collected over N53.48b ($336.5 million) at checkpoints between 2009 and this year. This was disclosed by Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chairman, Board of Trustees, Intersociety on his report on "Police Corruption As Human Rights Abuse". Click here to read Umeagbalasi's report. Umeagbalasi also filed a second report on "How Over 54,000 Nigerians Died Outside The Law, Since 1999". Click here to read Umeagbalasi's 2nd report.

While Masterweb commends members of the Nigeria Police Force who have honestly dedicated their lives to the protection of lives and property in Nigeria, we will not relent in condemning all the bad eggs in the force. We salute the police officer who saved our CEO from untimely death in Umuahia in the hands of an armed robber in Nigeria Police Force who unsuccessfully hatched out plans for the murder and robbery of our Chief Executive. It happened in December last year when our CEO who was in Nigeria on vacation was on his way with his wife and daughter to visit a relative at World Bank Estate, Umuahia. Our CEO who was trying to find his way at the estate made a legitimate left turn into a street with a police post in the midst of other residential buildings - the time was 8.25 pm. An armed police officer lying in wait for a prey at gun point ordered our CEO to stop and out of the car. Our CEO came out of the car with both hands in the air. All the police officer was shouting was: "I will kill you". "I will kill you", "I will kill you", cocking his gun four times as our CEO pled for his life, explaining that he was trying to find his way to Coping Junction. The trigger happy officer ordered another officer who came to the scene to search our CEO's car. The intervening officer shouted: "Don't you see he is a chief", "Ihugi owu chief" (Ihugi owu chief is "Don't you see he is a chief" in Igbo). He refused to search our CEO's car. The trigger happy evil officer now turned around to speak in Igbo that he was sorry for his action, that he thought our CEO was one of the teenagers driving around drinking and smoking dope. Our CEO in his mid fifties could not have been mistaken for a teenager.

The truth was that it was dark and the evil police officer in question suspecting that our CEO had money, planned to rob and murder him, thereafter killing both his wife and daughter, then finding something to cover up the crime. Our CEO's wife might have helped in getting the intervening officer save the situation by complaining to him as soon as he stepped out that what his fellow officer was doing to an innocent law-abiding unarmed citizen was wrong.

When our CEO visited the police post the following morning, the DPO in the building told him that all streets adjouring their post were thoroughfare. He said he did not understand why the officer threatened to kill our CEO. Efforts by our CEO to file a complaint against the evil officer were frustrated by the relative he was visiting at World Bank Estate who warned him that the police would raid her residence at night if he took any action against the officer. People we gathered are afraid of reporting cases involving the police for fear of reprisal by criminal elements in the force.

Masterweb hereby calls on the Inspector General (IG) of Police to use his good offices in ensuring that:

1. All criminal elements in Nigeria Police Force are identified and flushed out.

2. The evil police officer that almost killed our CEO is identified, dismissed from the police force and prosecuted in court.

3. The gunmen who robbed and murdered Odinigwe Mokelu in Port Harcourt on his way back from church on Sunday, June 19, 2011 are identified and prosecuted in court.

3. The gunmen who murdered Egesionu Ifeanyichukwu Paul ( a U.S. based pharmacist ) in Owerri on October 23 this year on his way back from his village where he went to see his people and inspect the construction of their town church windows he was funding.

5. All unsolved murders in Nigeria are properly investigated to determine those responsible for the nefarious act.

6. Nigeria Police does its best in protecting lives and property in the country, and reducing to a minimal corruption within its ranks.

Article Source: Masterweb Reports

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