Thread by @GbengaWemimo

Yesterday, I read the thread of a young man who was robbed at Ojota. He said the robbers beating him blue-black and took everything from him
He said he was so sure they were going to kill him that he was already praying that God should take his soul. He also said the officers of

the Nigerian Police were about 20 meters away from the incident
They were seated in their patrol vans and watched as he was beaten within an inch of his life
I read through over 2000 comments that the thread generated
Everybody blamed the police officers and wished the young man

well.
When I was a journalist, there was a young man who was employed as a reporter whom i love very well
He would go out and do vox pops on topical issues
He was quite good at getting the people to say their minds and soon became quite known even beyond Lagos
I remember the

reaction of the people to him at Mapo Hall in Ibadan when he went there to do a vox pop
He was almost torn to shreds by the people who wanted to touch him and celebrate his popularity
The name of his programme was "The People"
He wrote a moving story recently about how he was

robbed about 20 meters away from a police station
His story was similar to that of the young man above, after the deed, he approached the police officers to report. He said they looked at him and practically laughed in his face.
I took the time to check the comments on his story

too
He got a lot of "sorry" and the police got a ton of blame
A lot of people also related their experiences with criminals and the unconcerned attitude of the police
One said when he got to the police station, the officer on duty said "My friend, please leave"
There was a

report that following the #EndSarsProtests over one hundred thousand police officers tendered their letters of resignation
It was reported that the IG refused to accept the letters
I agree that the Nigerian Police is corrupt and needed to be reformed
I am also sure that police

officers are human beings
Many of them were attacked by hoodlums during the last protests
Many of them also died
Many of them were so scared for their lives that they resorted not to wear their uniforms when leaving their houses
I was at the bank somewhere in Mowe earlier in the

month when a blind man whose bank account had been tampered with by a young man living with him ran to the police for help
He said he couldn't find his ATM card with which he usually withdrew money from his account and asked the young man to help him initiate a transfer from his

phone
The young man played a fast one on him and cleared out the account
All he wanted was for the police officer to help him arrest the young man because he was sure once he leaves the house the young man would run away
The police officer declined to help
he said he was afraid

his his safety
What if he arrested the boy and the boy shouted "ENDSARS"?
The police officer said he didn't want to get mobbed
This blind man then decided to play a fast one on the young man
He told him he just received some money from a friend of his and the young man should

accompany him to the bank
When they got inside the bank premises, the blind man held the young man and started shouting until the bank officers and security came to his aid
The claims of the blind man were verified
The young man transferred all the money in the account to his

girlfriend and the girlfriend had withdrawn the money immediately
The blind man asked the bankers to help him
He said he wanted the young man arrested and he was willing to lead the police to the house of the girlfriend so that he can recover his money
The bankers declined
He was

told to go to a police station and report
He told the story of how the police had refused to get involved and started crying
Nobody was moved to help
The young man walked out of the bank a free man and the blind man walked out of the bank a broken man
Many can argue that the

police force had been ineffective and should be thrashed
Many will argue the men in uniform are corrupt and deserves whatever they got
I disagree
G. K. Chesterton has a saying, “Don't ever take a fence down until you know the reason it was put up.”
It seems many do not consider

that actions have consequences
I have observed social media buzz about certain deaths and the call for justice for such deaths
Police officers died during the protests too
Police officers were maimed and injured
Police officers were lynched and killed
They died in the line of

duty
many were attacked in their stations and some of their stations were set ablaze
Psychologically, many police officers were assaulted and scared
We should talk about their plight too
We should talk about their healing too
We should treat them as friends and not as foes
We all

lose if they lose their faith in the society we say we want to build
If they continue to turn a blind eye, criminals will only get bolder and bolder
If criminals get bolder, crime will only increase
If crime increases, it is the people that will suffer
If we believe the police

officers will lick their wound and heal by themselves because they chose the job, we must remember that untreated trauma is dangerous
PTSD is real and it has a lot of consequences
I saw a police officer shoot and kill three young men and himself once at Paulson hotel, Ketu, Lagos

I was a journalist at the time and i know the police officer very well
He had been saying for several weeks that he owed himself a bullet and he will take people with him whenever he was ready to die
He did exactly as he promised
Many police officers were victims during the last

protests
Let us remember this and include them in our agitations for a better Nigeria
Let us talk about the dead police officers as heroes too
Finally, I saw @kunleafolayan raving at a guy who downloaded his movie from the wrong source and was complaining about subtitles. Many

people didn't like his choice of words
I don't like his choice of words too but I have come to discover that most of those condemning his choice of words were the ones who responded to a governor by saying "werey, soro soke" from which they tagged themselves the "Soro Soke"

generation.
It seemed they can only dish it out but they cannot take it!
So they target authority figures whose response ought to be measured due to their place in the society and they throw venom at such for fun!
It is very funny in my opinion that you are aiming and aspiring to

be great and yet you find it easy to hide behind your phone and curse those who will have a say about your greatness in life
The Bible says we are not to curse a king even in our rooms because walls have ears!
Many of us assume the words were mere words
They are not
You can never

sit on a throne you have previously cursed in peace
Athaliah didn't
Jehoram didn't
Ahaziah didn't
David refused to curse the throne and his throne was established forever
Believers ought to know and do better
Our path upward can only be paved by blessings, not curses

Friends, not Foes gbengawemimo.com/post/friends-n…
All he wanted was for the police officer
to help him arrest the young man
because he was sure once he leaves
the house the young man would run
away
The police officer declined to help