NOT YET IN MARVEL AKPOYIBO’S IMAGE

In spite of these however, Akpoyibo has a major question to answer. Police extortion of motorists has been on the rise. Ask any bus driver or conductor. Interview any commercial motor cycle operator. They’ll tell you how brazen, how in your face this practice is. For instance, between Ikeja and Ogba bus terminals, there are up to five such “toll” collection points every night in the last several months. Of these, three are between ABC bus stop on Adeniyi Jones Avenue and CMB, a mere three stops apart, with each team of uniformed men (with at least one armed) openly collecting “dues” from bus and motorcycle operators

It was an unusual sight… a senior police officer flat on his belly, microphone in hand, “confessing” to having been a patron of the occult. For many his presence in church, a Pentecostal church, was akin to meeting a virgin in a maternity ward – an impossibility sang about some decades back by Nigeria’s own country and western music star, Bongos Ikwue.

But it happened. There he was at the sanctuary of the headquarters church of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, TREM in Lagos. The occasion was the 6th edition of Breeding Leadership and National Transformation (BLENT) organized by the church. Dressed in civvies, Marvel Akpoyibo, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State told an audience which included the church’s Founding/Presiding Bishop and chief host, Dr Mike Okonkwo about his sojourn in the occult in his search for “supernatural power” to enable him excel as a policeman.

He recalled how as a young officer, he was persuaded to seek spiritual protection from occultic sources so that he might survive in the Nigeria Police. But he soon discovered the futility of relying on charms for protection, declaring that he never really felt secured until he accepted God into his life. He then called on those who might still be looking for protection and guidance from other beings besides God, to retrace their steps.

Testifying further to the place of his faith in the Lordship of Jesus Christ in his assignment in Lagos State, Akpoyibo was quoted as saying God had been of tremendously help to him in policing the economic capital of Nigeria. His words as reported by one of the newspapers: “When I was made the CP of Lagos, after I signed a hand over note, I told God I will not deliver the note until he signed his own column. I want you to help me police Lagos State. Before then, we were losing 10 policemen everyday, and 20 to 25 cars were being snatched everyday. But I handed over Lagos State to the almighty God and since then crime has reduced.”

Akpoyibo went on to solicit the prayers of Nigerians for the Nigeria Police, while urging youths and those indulged in crime to turn their minds to God. He counselled: “there is no virtue in criminal activities and those who engage in it will never end well…read the Bible and learn new things everyday. It will change your life for the better and take you away from sins.”

Akpoyibo left the church that Sunday, happy that he had opened up in order to encourage others to change their ways, expressing great joy that a large crowd of people went out to give their lives to Christ after his testimony. Not everybody applauded him, however. While some accused him of playing to the gallery. Others felt he was labelling his colleagues as cultists. Yet others dismissed him as superstitious and therefore unfit for his office.

So vociferous was the criticism in some circles that the State Police Command had to issue a statement clarifying issues. Spokesman, Mr. Frank Mba, explained that his boss’ comments “were not meant to cast aspersion on any group or individual and should not be misconstrued…it was meant to admonish the youth on the futility of seeking power in whatever form from occultic forces.”

Mba wrote: ”I want Nigerians to know that the CP never made the comment to elicit negative reactions; he was in fact, making himself an example of what Godliness means in everybody‘s life…Particularly, he wanted police officers to know that the only source of guidance and protection they could have is from God and not any evil forces. We are all aware that policing a state like Lagos is not a tea party, hence the commissioner thinks that if the youth become more God-fearing, they will shun crime and the state will be the better for it…”

All of that was September last year. Since then I have watched the policing scene in Lagos with heightened interest. Has the fact of having a “born again” Christian as police commissioner changed anything? Has crime rate dropped since his public confession that he sought the assistance of God to police Lagos? Has there been any dramatic, not to say, miraculous unravelling of any crime since then?

Although, I do not have statistics to support this, I believe that the crime rate has indeed dropped. It is true that factors such as increased funding through the security trust fund, which translates to better equipping; the reduction of the pool of miscreants through creative employment policy of the state government, and the God-fearing leadership of Governor Babatunde Fashola have all combine to make this possible. But it is true, isn’t it that, “Except the Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain (Psalm 127: 1)?

Two incidents serve to reinforce my belief that Akpoyibo and his team have indeed had the divine hands of God working with them. You probably heard about the story of the boy who was kidnapped at his parent’s church at Magodo on the outskirts of the metropolis. The boy was found, if my memory serves right, within 24 hours. What struck me about this was the commissioner’s testimony on television that when the boy’s father came to his office, among the first things they did was pray together! To someone else that was wasting valuable crime-bursting time. To the commissioner that was obviously touching base with his senior partner! The second incident was the Niger Delta-like abduction of some foreign nationals in the creeks of Lagos Island. The speed with which the crime was detected and the victims freed was uncharacteristic of the Nigeria Police.

In spite of these however, Akpoyibo has a major question to answer. Police extortion of motorists has been on the rise. Ask any bus driver or conductor. Interview any commercial motor cycle operator. They’ll tell you how brazen, how in your face this practice is. For instance, between Ikeja and Ogba bus terminals, there are up to five such “toll” collection points every night in the last several months. Of these, three are between ABC bus stop on Adeniyi Jones Avenue and CMB, a mere three stops apart, with each team of uniformed men (with at least one armed) openly collecting “dues” from bus and motorcycle operators. These, for the avoidance of any doubts, are not “stop and search” operations or any other kind of crime prevention efforts. They are undisguised, devil-may-care N20-N50 extorting exercises.

Now, street wisdom has always had it that these guys are not acting alone; that they report to their various bosses, who give returns to their own bosses, right up to the highest level. State commissioners are rumoured to be somewhere in this chain. Is this still true? Does it happen in Lagos under a born-again, spirit-filled police commissioner? Or is it beyond a commissioner to tackle? The characteristics of a kingdom is said to derive from the character of the king. Something is terribly out of sync between the perceived image of Commissioner Akpoyibo and the street image of the police he leads in Lagos State. Will it still be so this time next year? We wait and watch.

PIX: Mr Marvel Akpoyiboh, Commissioner of Police, Lagos State...Wanted, A Police Command in his image


FROM MY INBOX

RE: THE RISE AND RISE OF CARNALITY
This is a perfect reportage of a powerful message by an inspired child of God. It is a timely warning to all in position of leadership in the body of Christ. I pray that the Holy Spirit will further minister on this to our hearts. Rev. Bayo's main theme is actually on "Holiness and Christian compromise". Christians are gradually blending with the world, adopting worldly tactics even for evangelism. This has resulted in the breeding of a generation of shallow, superficial believers, "having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof..."

Church and ministries leaders in Nigeria, especially the pentecostals, should come together and agree on certain biblical standards of holiness in worship, which are not to be compromised in our worship of God. Jesus Christ is coming soon, we must not be caught napping. God bless you, Sir.
"Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted" - Anon

Akintunde Makinde,
Apapa, Lagos