By Ada Obeleagu YeyeNews.com, December 28, 2021
A Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of a police station in Onitsha has led his men to distribute rice to residents of the station’s host community as part of the Christmas celebration. The DPO during the distribution told the recipients that the police decided to celebrate the season by giving back to the community from what has been extorted from residents since the beginning of the year.
“We are giving back to the community as part of our corporate social responsibility. From the beginning of the year we have collected so much from you by manning checkpoints on the road, collecting money for bail and other sundry levies. It has been a bountiful year. So we decided to distribute one basket of rice to each family out of what we have taken from you. We hope next year will be better”, the DPO said while addressing the people.
A resident of the area told YeyeNews.com that although they appreciate the gesture of the DPO and his men, but what would have been more meaningful is for the police to have celebrated the season by desisting from their extortionist schemes against the residents of the area. “The value of what they gave to us can be recovered from proceeds from just one roadblock or some few random arrests here and there. We really don’t want this rice from them. What we demand is an end to their harassment and extortion”.
But a policeman in the station urged the residents to show appreciation for the gesture rather than complaining about police harassment. He told YeyeNews.com that the police cannot survive without all the fundraising endeavors that the people complain about. “What they call extortion is simply how we raise funds to provide ourselves with the basic requirements for crime fighting. If we end those measures then there won’t be police anymore, it means hoodlums will take over the streets. So, anyone that is complaining must be ready to make the choice between enduring our methods and living in a community controlled by hoodlums”.
