Nigerian police, what manner of investigation?
By Abdallah Mailafia Shaibu
It is common knowledge that the Nigerian Police is always in a hurry to arrive at a conclusion whenever a murder or attempted murder case is being investigated. Why they have chosen this part of absurdity is still a mystery to most of us. It appears as if a thorough and detailed investigation is a taboo that must be avoided at all cost. We are all aware that the force has never, in its entire history, been able to solve any murder case. Could this be the reason why the force prefers to ‘convert’ a murder or attempted murder case into a robbery one?
Umar Njidah Pariya, an aide of Vice President Atiku Abubakar was the target of hired assassins at his Gwarimpa residence in Abuja recently. But because his appointed time has not yet come, he was mysteriously not available at the time the armed bandits called. However, they succeeded in injuring one of the house helps and a mobile police officer attached to the house. The assassins were not too lucky as one of them fell to the superior fire power of the gallant officer.
It would be recalled that the same Umar Pariya raised an alarm sometimes ago that he was being trailed by men suspected to be assassins. To prove his seriousness, he sent his letter of complaint to all the security agencies in the land. This came at a time when the allegation and counter allegation of corruption between the President and his vice were at their peak.
Umar Pariya was relatively an unknown personal aide of Vice President Atiku Abubakar before this period. He became prominent when EFCC indicted him along with his boss for financial impropriety. He then became an endanger specie to the same group of people who would anything to rubbish the Vice President to satisfy their personal desires.
What is so worrisome in the whole scenario is the speed with which the FCT Police Commissioner, Lawrence Alobi, concluded that the attack on Pariya was a case of armed robbery. Just immediately after the attack, Alobi came out to publicly debunk any linkage of the attack with assassination attempt on the life of Pariya. According to him, it was a clear case of a bandit going to a house to steal money. He shot himself in the leg by concluding that investigation was still on going. If the police have not concluded investigation into the maatter, why rush to the conclusion that it was a case of robbery when there were ample evidences to suggest the contrary? Does the life of the officer attached to the house not matter to the high ranking officers of the force?
From my little knowledge of investigation, I know that there is nothing as difficult to solve as a murder case without a motive. And most murderers endeavour to establish strong alibi to dispel any linkage to them. But as they say, there is no perfect crime. An attempt to cover up a lead results into blunders being committed. In this particular case, it is never a perfect crime as will be proved shortly.
Sometimes ago too, Vice President Atiku Abubakar left his official residence to stave off attempts on his life. This was based on intelligence reports made available to him by both local and foreign security agencies. If he had not heeded the warning, only God knows what would have become of him. The fact that he did not keep quite about the issue did a lot to save his head. It became public knowledge that some people were after his life and everyone knew those that were behind the act.
In the case of Pariya, the assassins, in a desperate move to whisk one of their own that fell to the superior fire power, left behind a gun identified as the property of the Nigerian Army. Alobi and his force in Abuja could not see a lead here to work on. These are men who would tell you that they have over twenty years of experience in the Force. It is a shame.
For Alobi to have concluded so hastily without any iota of investigation, lend credence to insinuations that men of the Nigerian Police are usually privy to most robbery cases. Or how else can one explain a clear case of attempted assassination of this nature that Alobi is forcing Nigerians to believe that it was robbery case?
To worsen matters, he concluded that investigations into the matter were still on going. If he was sincere, why did he jump to conclusion without awaiting the outcome of the investigation? If he was so sure that it was a robbery case, why waste our resources for further investigation when such resources could have been channeled towards apprehending the suspects?
Several motives could be adduced to explain the necessity to exterminate Pariya. One, he is a very close aide of Vice President Atiku Abubakar. Therefore, it is not unlikely that he would be in possession of vital information that will make him a security risk to some quarters. Two, his elimination would have sent signals to die-hard VP’s loyalists to stay off. Third, it would have succeeded in destabilizing Atiku Abubakar. The dastardly act was carefully planned to coincide with Atiku’s trip to the United States of America . If they had succeeded, that would have affected the trip somehow.
In the final analysis, I call on men of the Nigerian police to put pressure on the federal government to give them adequate training so that they can justify their continued existence. Honestly speaking, if I have the means, I won’t hesitate for a second to scrap the Nigerian Police. Their non existence will be more beneficial to the Nigerian people.

Abdallah Mailafia Shaibu wrote in from No 8A Tudun Wada Street, Lafia, Nasarawa state.