Funmi Peter-Omale
Actions always have consequences, there will always be a price. Even when or if the action is meant for goodwill or ill-motivated, life teaches that there is and will always be a price.
Most times, the consequences may be later, but oftentimes, they come immediately.
Call it what you like. Karma. Comeuppance. Chastisement. Punishment. Wrath. Whatever.
This piece is about the unfortunate incident that happened in Ibadan, Oyo State, a few days ago. That poor school boy was shot by the Police.
The Nigeria Police… hmm. Their reputation follows them everywhere they are or go. An armed policeman is as dangerous as an armed robber (pardon my tautology).
Please bear with me, so you can understand exactly where I’m going with this.
Initial reports had claimed all sorts of narratives: police were chasing the driver, or the police shot, and it was a stray bullet that struck the boy, police are trigger-happy, police are not your friend, run when you see police, blabla blabla.
Let me state unequivocally here that, as for me, I blame that driver, the father of the deceased boy, who not only put the lives of his children who were in his care in jeopardy but also put them at risk.
I have seen the videos, from different angles, from right from when he breached the police barricade, but also smashing his way through and driving recklessly.
For goodness’ sake, what manner of father would play Rambo with the lives of his children in the car, aggravating a seemingly (maybe lawful) traffic stop, against armed policemen?
It’s so easy to blame “trigger-happy, reckless policemen”. But what about a blame for a father who put his children at risk for whatever was going through his mind?
Peradventure, the kids were running late for school, or father was running late for an appointment, or he was just not in the mood for police shenanigans: he had no right to have exposed those kids to the violence and aftermath we are now seeing in the various viral videos.
I also say and believe that some a story will always have two or more stories.
Thank God for technological advancement, where you can even record and stream live videos. Because of these, we now know and see exactly what happened.
Listen, you people out there, the more you keep saying or thinking you can beat the police, the better you should be prepared to face the consequences, even a fatal one.
The story would have ended differently if the guy had stopped, had reversed, had parked, or had simply obeyed the command of the officers. Patapata, ask the children to take a keke or walk or take a cab or ring their mother to come and continue the journey.
Instead, he was brutish. He was stubborn. He drove like an insane person through the police cordon, and even crammed into a police van.
I’m so sorry a young life was lost in this incident. Sadly, the police man fired at the vehicle, probably aiming at the tyre.
The policeman misfired. That has been the bane of the Nigerian society: ill ill-trained, I’ll equipped and disorganised and disorientated Police force. The stories are there for all to see. I hope this time, the culprit is subjected to an orderly room trial and punished for mismanaging his arm.
For the father of that boy, he’s lucky he’s not my husband or brother or son. Because I will chew him to bits and pieces! He was the one who triggered the police, and they triggered their guns. Make no mistake, he’s culpable of child endangerment. Let him go and sit in prison and reset his brain. You should know that when you have children with you, in the car, you should be reasonably thoughtful and protective- except you’re on some psychoactive something or buzzed or inebriated.
That’s another story in itself.
*Funmi Peter-Omale, journalist and public affairs analyst, writes from the United Kingdom