By Tonye Clinton Jaja
On 21st January 2025, the Punch newspaper reported as follows:
“Nigerian man based in the United Kingdom, James Akinwande, has replaced a pair of shoes and a wristwatch allegedly stolen from Kemi Badenoch’s brother by officers of the Nigeria Police Force.
Badenoch, the leader of the UK’s Conservative Party, recently claimed in an interview that some NPF officers stole her brother’s belongings.
She described the police officers’ behaviour as an abuse of power.
“My experience with the police in Nigeria was very negative, and coming to the UK, my first experience with the police was very positive. The police in Nigeria would rob us.
“I remember the police stealing my brother’s shoes and his watch. It’s a very poor country, so people do all sorts of things,” Badenoch said in the December 2024 interview.”
Kemi Badenoch did not mince words, she said that: ” The police in Nigeria would rob you…I remember the police stealing my brother’s shoes and watch …”
In other words, the Nigerian Police are thieves!!!
As if that is not enough, in December 2024, a federal court judge (in Canada, delivered a judgment that officially confirmed that the Nigerian Police is a criminal organisation that is notorious for bribery and corruption.
Below are excerpts of the said judgment as reported as follows:
“”But Ms. Phuong T.V. Ngo, in October 2024, dismissed Mr Nwokolo’s grievances as ill-conceived, stressing that the RPD and RAD were right to deny him asylum given a section of the Canadian law forbids the issuance of refugee status to persons who have committed “serious non-political crimes” before coming to Canada.
The justice said that Mr Nwokolo, who retired as a traffic warden under the Nigerian police, fell into this category of non-political criminals because the Nigerian security outfit was infamous for “extortion and bribery.”
“On April 11, 2022, the RPD found serious reasons to consider that the Applicant committed, under Article 1F(b) of the Convention, serious non-political crimes prior to entering Canada, namely extortion and bribery,” Ms Go said in her ruling on October 23, 2024.
Ms Go determined that officers of the force contribute significantly to Nigeria’s corruption.
“The RPD found that the police force as well as the traffic wardens are highly corrupt and that members of these forces are expected to contribute to this system of returns,” the justice stated.
Mr Nwokolo refuted the accusations, saying he neither collected bribes nor extorted citizens during his years in active service. However, Ms Go said the RPD had strong reasons to believe otherwise.
“Even though the applicant alleges that he has never taken any bribes or extorted people as a traffic warden, the RPD found that there were serious reasons to consider that the applicant participated in those activities,” Ms Go said.”
“Article 1F(b) of the Immigration and Refugee Convention Act of Canada, 2001 provides that a person with respect to whom there are serious reasons for considering that “ he has committed a serious non-political crime outside the country of refuge prior to his admission to that country as a refugee” is excluded from the protection of the Refugee Convention”.
So going by the provisions of this legislation, bribery and corruption perpetuated by the officers of the Nigerian Police are regarded as serious non-political crime!
The implication of this judgment is that all officers of the Nigerian Police (serving or retired) are deemed to have participated (either as perpetrators or as accomplices) in the omission and commission of a serious crime of bribery and corruption (which disqualifies them from receiving protection from the Government of Canada in the event that they apply for refugee status)!!!
In the case of Mr. Nwokolo, who alleged that he was just a traffic warden during his years as a police officer and he was also a pastor, these pleas fell on deaf ears of the federal court judge!!!
Is this not the type of lawsuit that the Nigerian Police ought to file an appeal against?
Is this not the kind of lawsuit that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) ought to write to the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) to appeal against as an interested party at either the Court of Appeal of Canada or the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
This is not good for the reputation of the Nigerian Police to be classified in the same category as the Mafia and other syndicate organisations that are notorious for bribery and corruption!!!
Even some Canadian lawyers have criticised this section 1F (b) of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act of Canada and subsequent interpretation of the said Section by the Supreme Court of Canada as follows:
👆 several lawyers have criticised the Supreme Court of Canada for their “harsh” interpretation of the said law to deny refugee protection to former Nigerian police officers.
“From a refugee advocacy standpoint, the majority’s decision in Febles is undeniably troubling. The plain reading approach to Article 1F(b) adopted by the SCC carries with it an implicit presumption that everyone who has committed a serious offence is categorically and indefinitely undeserving of refugee protection. It also undermines the notion that rehabilitation is a key goal of criminal justice proceedings.”
Dr. Tonye Clinton Jaja,
Executive Director,
Nigerian Law Society (NLS)
