Is there a more pressing sign that a country’s security has been severely compromised than the state having to protect its own police officers from being abducted by criminals. That’s just one of the many, many curious things that have happened to the Nigerian police over the last few months. Just a few months ago, the entire country watched in horror as the Nigerian Police took to social media to petition the Nigerian Army to provide evidence concerning the death of 3 police officers, allegedly shot by military forces at a check point in Taraba. The circumstances around that event led to the arrest of police officers and military officers and counter accusations that went on for weeks, marring whatever little good will both parties had with the Nigerians they are supposed to serve.

With policemen being implicated in murder plots, it doesn’t come as a surprise to hear that a high ranking police official was kidnapped along the notorious Kaduna- Abuja express way. That stretch of road has become a high risk area, with dozens of kidnap attempts recorded along the stretch of road. The governments of Kaduna and Abuja have been unable to curb the violence and have suggested that citizens take the Kaduna-Abuja rail as a safer alternative, even though that has also been attacked by bandits in the past. So the public statement from the Kaduna state command confirming that the Police Area Commander of the Suleja Area command ACP Musa Rambo was kidnapped by unnamed gunmen was not at all surprising.

While the ACP has officially been rescued and there are current investigations to apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice, the fact that a high ranking government official can be at the mercy of the government’s insecurity. Nigeria is not safe for anyone, not even the people that are supposed to secure it, that should be enough of a nightmare for all of us.

Edwin Okolo

Edwin Okolo is an author and journalist who has worked with YNaija, TheNativemag and the Naked Convos.