By Emma  Nnadozie

The Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Dahiru Abubakar and the Police Management team, Wednesday, honoured some officers and men of the force who excelled in their respective assignments.

Those honoured included; two Commissioners of police, Ogunsakin Tunde Johnson of the Special Fraud Unit(SFU), Lagos; Idris Faruk Umar of the Anti Fraud Section. Two Deputy Commissioners of Police: Chris Okey Ezike of the Federal Special Anti- Robbery Squad, Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi of the Interpol section; CSP Ibrahim Bako of SEB section, ASP Eseile Irioje, Inspector Yusuf Audu of the Federal SARS and Sgt. Joy Oloh of anti-fraud section. One of the recipients, DCP Ezike spoke with Crime Guard. Excerpts:

What is the significance of today’s award to you?
It signifies happiness for us the recipients, our families and our workforce. They said it takes two to tango.  But in this wise, it takes three to tango. Ourselves, our families who wait endlessly for us to come back home.  And then, our workforce. We have been singled out for recognition, but it is about the feats that have been achieved. So, we are happy. This type of thing does not come everyday; it does not come always, but today we thank God. We are happy and will forever glorify God.

The IGP, MD Abubakar presenting award of outstanding dedication to the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Chris Ezike (L), at the the Force CID Annual Award in Abuja on Wednesday.

Sir, can you oblige us some of the exploits that made you win these awards?
I want to be modest, I was chosen for this award, just like two of my other officers for reasons best known to our bosses. But I can tell you that in this Special Anti-Robbery Squad,SARS, the Federal SARS; it has been difficult working here. Working here is not like eating salad. We have taken on a lot of matters, we are primarily an operational and investigative arm of the Force Criminal Investigation Department, FCID.

First and foremost, the Counter Terrorism Investigation, CTI, is domiciled with the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad, F-SARS. So, all these cases of Boko Haram  that have been successfully investigated and charged to court emanated from this department. The management of information, management of suspects, management of the exhibits, robust liaison with the Federal Department of Public Prosecution aimed at arraigning these suspects are not matters that end in a day. The journey did not start today. It takes commitment, hard work and knowledge of the law to be able to get to where we are. That is one.

Two, I am very much aware that you know that this department mid-wifed the Oyerinde matter. And to the best of our ability, we gave our best to SARS and to the  glory of God, we have no fewer than 15 suspects in custody and nobody, nobody has come up with any superior claims on why those suspects should not have been in custody.

Sometime in September 2012, a very high ranking staff of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, left Lagos on his way to Abuja on official assignment and was not seen  any more. I can tell you without fear of contradiction that we have all the suspects in our custody. Unfortunately, the man is deceased, his skeletal bones have been recovered, and the matter is on. It is all success story in this department, F-SARS. I can also tell you that two people (or two groups) who set out to impersonate the National Security Adviser, NSA, (Col. Sambo Dasuki) were arrested by this department and they are all in court. One pleaded guilty, and has been sentenced already while the trial of others are still on.

This department has also midwifed a lot of recovery of arms and ammunition, and these matters are all in court. I can also tell you that some very bad boys who stole about N4 million from a first generation bank in various denominations of pounds, dollars and Naira have been apprehended.

A cross section of awardees

In 2012, we investigated no fewer than 170 cases, and we had breakthroughs in almost all of them. So, we are not blowing our trumpet. But, we are happy to be recognized. This department got the best sectional head award, got the best SPO award, and got the best Inspectors’ award. I think here is where to be.

What problems have you been encountering in the cause of carrying out your investigations?

They are normal problems. They are logistic problems which is not a new story, under funding and lack of capacity are not new stories. But,above all,we try to manage what we have because, failure is not an excuse.

What  message do you have for criminals who have been undermining your efforts?

Well, a criminal has no place here (Federal SARS). Even in the Bible, God gave them the commandments, He said do not steal. Do not do this, do not do that. It is not different from what we have in our laws. Stealing is a felony as well as armed robbery and Kidnapping. So the Bible, good living and the societal environment are synonymous. They are equal and opposite.

What do you have to tell Nigerians about your operations?
In all modesty,we ask for patience and understanding. The police are the most mis-understood constituency in the world.

But, today, we plead for patience. Let people listen to our own story and then come out with a judgement. But you cannot deal with us (Police) without hearing our story.   Policeman are Nigerians; we have families, we have relations; they cry when it is bad, they enjoy when it is good. We are not super humans, we are human beings. Let the public understand us (police)! It shall be well with all of us.