I joined the Police Force in 2005. I promised I was going to be diligent. I have always believed that one person can make a difference in a bad system. I promised to never take bribe, facilitate bribe or overlook bribe. In my first few months, I was posted to man a checkpoint in

a cusy part of Lagos. We were supposed to go there, ensure people act accordingly, check papers wherever we suspected a crime, ask for identity, etc. But whenever we went out, my colleagues only collected money from commercial drivers, profile people as thieves, and coerce them

till they coughed out money. I was uncomfortable with a lot of things but I was a junior officer. I started recording these activities, in hopes that I can report them. One day I packed all my evidences, went to the DPO of my station and submitted the them. He said he would look

into it. One week. Two weeks. Three weeks. He didn't look into it. And they soon reduced my checkpoint tasks. I worked shifts at the station and helped to process bail under the law. I didn't collect bribe. Didn't subvert justice. I just let the Law take its cause. One day my

DPO asked to see me. I went into his office and he was furious. He was very aggressive. He did not mention what exactly I did in particular but he kept on mentioning how I was a bad example to the force. He promised to make a scapegoat out of me. I wanted to ask what I did but

it would be an unwise endeavour. I left. That night, I was instructed to man a checkpoint with my colleagues. The ride was silent. Only the engines and metals of our jalopy truck had a conversation. One of my colleagues asked that they stop at a popular joint where they sold

gin. I thought they wanted to make raids but was stunned when we entered the joint and everyone was hailing the officers. They took shots. Smoked cigarettes. two uncomfortable hours later, we were out. When we got to our checkpoint, we met a group of vigilante. It was around 9pm.

The vigilante were mostly landlords of that area, wielding sticks and torches. They said they were just robbed. If we had gotten there an hour earlier. Thirty minutes even. We could have prevented it. I was livid. I wanted to report it, but TO WHO? We blared sirens around for

some minutes and the top officer that night said 'na bad market today o, make we find chop go that other side'. We drove to another street not very far from there and we saw a workspace. It was a tech office that provided Internet + electricity services for tech enthusiasts to

work without having to worry about these basic things. The officer in charge grinned. Told us to prepare as "chop don arrive". We went in and they arrested all the people at the workspace. They beat some of them and told them to cough out money as they were Yahoo boys. They wernt

Those who could pay were allowed to leave. Those who couldn't pay were paraded the next day as the thieves that orchestrated the robbery from the other street. I had new pieces of evidence. I submitted them to complaint commissions anonymously, they demanded that I come in person

I tried reporting the whole station but I met dead-ends. One day, I went out with some officers and there was a robbery. While trying to attack the thieves, one of my colleagues 'mistakenly' shot my leg. I was in hospital for months. Insurance failed me. There was no security

from the NPF. Things were really bad. I had to raise funds through organisations. I managed to escape losing my limb. When I got out of the hospital, I resigned from the force. The DPO, not contended with my resignation also mentioned during a press briefing that I was a weakling

and they needed to let me go.

I have learned that one good soul is just one good soul. If you are in a system where your good soul is continously burned and tortured, there is very little you can do. One good cop is not enough. We need one good system.

[Fiction] — by Princely X