Some individuals lived above board despite temptations and threats to their lives. One of those is the late former police chief, Abubakara Tsav; SUNNY IDACHABA writes.
The impression that all policemen are corrupt holds no water when an x-ray of the life of a former police officer, Abubakar Tsav, is done. This is because all through his service as a policeman who rose from an Inspector rank in 1962 when he joined the Force until 1998 when he retired as a Police Commissioner, he was never accused of using his position for what is known as corruption or accepting bribe in order to twist the truth, but was a perfect example of what it takes to be an ideal cop.
That was the life of this ex-police officer, Tiv man from Vandeikya local government area of Benue state who died after a brief illness in 2021.
Ideally, his story is supposed to be encompassed into a study syllabus for Police Colleges and other anti corruption institutions in the country for trainees/cadets to learn about how public officers especially law enforcement agencies are to conduct themselves in office.
In the course of his career, especially as senior officer, he served as Commissioner of Police in Lagos and Kano states. This is beside his stewardships at other levels where he spent a greater part of his career on criminal investigation. During these times, he handled sensitive cases like the Gloria Okon saga, alleged theft of aircraft by two British pilots, Ahmadu Bello University students/police clash, Lawrence Anini and his gang, among many others. At various times, he was the officer-in-charge of the Homicide Unit, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Panti, Yaba; State CID Kano; 2i/c Interpol, among many other national assignments for the Force.
Tsav was credited with reducing crime rates in Lagos during his tenure as police commissioner under Mohammed Marwa as Military Administrator during General Sani Abacha.
He was known for his fearlessness in speaking truth to power even when it meant challenging those in positions of authority, was a strong advocate for human rights, particularly against police brutality, extra-judicial killings and detention without trial. His commitment to justice and human rights earned him a reputation as a respected and admired figure in the society.
Tsav was known for standing for truth on any matter, for instance, he once appeared at the Human Rights Commission sitting in Abuja to complain about police complicity with criminals to perpetrate extra-judicial killings in Benue.
In his petition before the Commission in 2013, he singled out a former police commissioner in the state, Adams Audu as ‘too weak’ to confront criminal elements in the state, saying, “The practice in most police stations now is that once a person is arrested and released on bail, the case is forgotten. During our days, we followed each case to its logical conclusion.
“A situation where policemen go out to kill people at the insinuation of criminals, like hunters killing wild animals in the bush, is condemnable,” he stated in the petition.
Speaking in what looked like the interview he granted shortly before his death, he said, “When I was in service, I believed in honesty, fair play and justice. By virtue of my religion (Islam), I believe in treating people fairly. I don’t take sides with people based on relationships; I rather view the evidence before me, no matter who the person is.
“During that period, I discovered that there were a lot of injustices in the Nigeria Police. That was what prompted me to start talking the way I do today. I felt that was the only thing that could save this country.
“I made sure I did the right thing. The police dreaded me, not because I was bad, but for the fact that I did the job the way it should be done.
“If it is possible for me to become young again and go back to the police force, I would become more difficult than I was. This is because I have seen the things happening in the police service and in our society that are not right.”
Perhaps, one individual who knew him so well and wrote extensively about his career in the Force is an individual by the name Femi Owolabi.
He said this former commissioner of police for Lagos and Kano states came into limelight in 1986 when he headed a team of officers tasked with the responsibility of digging into the murder of Dele Giwa who was killed with a parcel bomb at his residence in Ikeja, Lagos 1986.
‘In a short while, Tsav had already established a case around the murder but needed permission to take on some top government officials he believed were involved in Giwa’s death. He never got that permission, and he wouldn’t stop talking of the experience until his death. During his probe, among those whom Tsav sought to investigate were two security chiefs: Halilu Akilu, former director in the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and Col A.K. Togun, former deputy director of the State Security Service (SSS).
“No sooner did he make the recommendation than he was withdrawn from the case and dispatched to Benin to take up the case of Lawrence Anini, the armed robber terrorising residents of Benin and other towns in the old Bendel state.”
Recounting the boldness of Tsav to tread on paths that even angels fear to tread, Owolabi said, “On his own volition and despite the threats, in 2001, Tsav walked into the Oputa Panel set up by ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo to look into abuses during the military rule and recounted how he had requested that those top officials be stripped of their privileges so he could conduct searches in their homes and offices.”
Tsav, venting his frustration over the whole saga as a middle-class officer then said, “When an officer tries to investigate a good case, superiors would take over and nothing heard of the matter again, but when you attain the rank of Commissioner of Police in charge of a state and you are honest, you’ll enjoy doing the job because when an offence is committed, you ensure that it is treated accordingly in line with the dictates of the law.
“But as a junior officer, you might be handling a case believing that you are doing a good job; a senior officer would come and take it from you and you’ll not hear anything about the matter again.”
In a no-holds-barred interview he granted in 2019, he said the military destroyed the police after the 1966 coup.
“Soldiers now commit crimes and behave as if they are above arrest, whereas soldiers are supposed to be subject to civil authority. In 1962 when I joined the police as a sub-cadet inspector, the police had powers to arrest any erring military officer who ran afoul of the law and charge such offending soldiers to court but everything changed in 1966 when the military staged a coup that toppled the civilian government.
“Something has to be done about this abnormal situation. In those days when Nigerian military officers were being sent for training at Sandhurst and Aldershot in England, there was discipline but things drastically changed when they started receiving training in military schools in Nigeria.”
Following his death, Tsav, a devout Muslim, though a Tiv from Benue state, received a posthumous funeral message from the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), under the leadership of its President-General and Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar.
In a letter addressed to Mallam Garba Yakubu Baba, the vice-president-general (NSCIA), Benue state Council, signed by Alhaji Yusuf Nwoha, the director of administration (NSCIA), the Council commiserated with the entire Ummah of Benue on the demise of the late retired Police Commissioner who departed at the age of 81 years.
“Alhaji Tsav was a devout Muslim, a disciplined police officer and a human rights activist. He was an active member of the Council’s Expanded General Purpose Committee (EGPC). The Council will greatly miss his active participation and useful contributions.
“It is the fervent prayer of the Council that Allah will give his family and the entire Ummah of Benue state the fortitude to bear this irreplaceable loss, as we beseech the Almighty to admit the late Police Commissioner (Rtd) to Aljanah Firdaus.”
His first son, Mohammed, a lawyer, said of his father, “My father was anything and everything to us. He was very strict and firm, was transparent and always stood for justice, never aligned himself with anything negative.”
The late Tsav’s daughter, Dr Halima said in tears, “He was a good man and did what was best for us. From an early age, he told us that the only thing he could give us was education. He didn’t have so much, but what he had, he gave us in education.
“When we were younger, we went to the best schools in Lagos, although he was a low rank officer then. I didn’t realise that until much later. My father was kind. It was after he died that so many people called me to say he paid their school fees. He never told us. He gave jobs to some graduates.”
Tsav’s younger brother, Yusuf, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), then an Area Commander in Edo state, said his late brother disliked everything corruption.
“He did a lot in the days of his service. If you were accused of corruption, he would send you behind bars. When he monitored all the roadblocks in the country, he made sure that no policeman collected money on the road. He wanted every policeman to be upright,” he said.
As the late Tsav himself put it, “We shall all die one day. The scepter and crown shall tumble down and in the dust be equally made. Only truth can save us. To achieve any reconciliation, we must be prepared to speak the truth.”
That was what Abubakar Tsav stood for all his life before he bid this earth goodbye a few years ago; that is why he remains an Unforgotten Hero, not only for the Force, but the entire Nigerian society.