Editorial: Plateau Police Command goofed
THE NIGERIA STANDARD
These are certainly difficult times for the government and people of Plateau State. The state has been in the news for the wrong reasons. The fragile peace that the government had been managing to entrench has suffered a setback, no thanks to the reaction of some misguided elements whose rash and thoughtless actions plunged the state into avoidable pain.
Sadly, instead of dousing the tension created by the unfortunate and sad event, the Plateau State Police Command through the statement of its spokesman, ASP Ubah Gabriel Ogaba, on Saturday, August 14, 2021 further inflamed passion doing even more damage to an already bad situation.
The statement lacked tack, finesse and diplomacy and it further exacerbated the sad and unfortunate event. Without thorough investigations, it would not have been possible to draw such conclusions in a cosmopolitan city such as Jos.
As a law enforcement agency, the Police owe it a duty and responsibility to ensure that public interest is paramount in whatever it does. That, to our mind does not include inflaming passion and putting an already fragile situation in the balance. One faulty statement is all that it would take for conflict merchants and entrepreneurs to latch onto and cause chaos and confusion.
Sadly, the Police statement provided the cannon fodder with which the fire of hatred was stocked. Our expectation is that the police, must and, should do everything within its power to stir the society from the path of destruction.
The GOC and Commander of Operation Safe Haven, Major General Ibrahim Sallau Ali, impressed in the course of the chaos. He went on air calling for calm and reason and made passionate appeals to various leaders to impress on their followers to tow the path of peace and reconciliation. As agents of the state, that is the path to follow not causing confusion and chaos.
Our place in the scheme of things is to ensure that we continue to preach peace just like various community leaders have done. The Christian Association of Nigeria, Plateau branch, the Jamaatu Nasri Islam, and a host of others have stood out in this moment of confusion.
We must as a people keep harping and emphasizing what binds us together rather than what divides us. It is not in our place to profile a tribe without thoroughly investigating the situation before drawing conclusions.
In this era of social media where all you need is an android phone and you become a content creator, editor, and the one to churn out the content makes the society vulnerable. This means that one must be careful what he lets out to the public domain.
This is obvious from the statement credited to the Police PPRO. The Daily Trust latched onto the Police statement to further inflame hatred and stock the embers of discord and disharmony.
Journalists, unfortunately, made a meal of the statement causing further strive and discomfort to a society that we claim to be serving. We forget in a hurry that without peace, we would not even have the right atmosphere to practice. We cannot destroy and expect to have the right environment to work.
Thankfully, the Commissioner of Police, Plateau State, Edward Egbuka, has come out to correct the wrong impression created by his PPRO. That to us would have been the path to tow in the first place.
