Dolapo Opeyemi Badmus a Superintendent of Police (SP) has been appointed as the new Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of Lagos State Police Command. She replaced Joseph Offor who has been in the saddle. The new PPRO joined the force on 15 August 2002, as an Assistant Superintendent of Police (course 21 batch) trained at Police Academy, Wudil, Kano.

She is a graduate of Accounting and also a post-graduate degree holder in Public Administration.

Badmus has served in various capacities since she joined the force. She was once Aide de camp to number 4 citizen of Nigeria, Divisional Traffic Officer (DTO) Alakuko and until now she was the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Isokoko Division, Agege. Her appointment was announced on 8 January, 2016.

Badmus  is married and has children. In a chat with Sahara Weekly, she opened up on her career and life

As spokesperson of the Lagos State Police Command, how do intend to sustain the relationship between the police and members of the public?

Like I do tell people, as the spokesperson, I see myself as a bridge linking the public to the police and vice-versa, and if you think on that line, you will know that there is going to be a cordial relationship when the inflow and outflow correspond, and basically that is what I want to do. So it depends on the members of the public to judge our performance. But we are going to work effectively and we shall meet all expectations.

For every glory, there is a story to tell. Personally, what are the challenges since you took up the post?

I don’t want to say I’ve any challenge because, for my own organisation, there are things expected of you; there are laid-down rules and regulations. It’s just a matter of you abiding by them and you will flow. Although there might be obstacles, I don’t want to see anything as obstacle because it is my own job, I have passion for it. Basically, I don’t see anything that is too hard to deal with.

You assumed office of the PPRO some months ago; what can you say are the Command’s major challenges in combating crime?

It’s the Nigeria Police Force; an organisation set up to combat crime. There are rules of engagement when you are combating crime. I think we’ve been able to surmount what we take as a problem, security-wise.  If you follow the trend of events, just like the Governor said at the town hall meeting, the crime rate in Lagos has reduced to 65% and I think we are getting there. The logistics released by the Lagos State Government late last year is also helping out. We can now combat crime on air, sea, and on ground and the only thing I think is slowing us down is the public not coming out to give us that information. You will agree with me that law enforcement agencies overseas are excelling because they get information and that is why we are telling the public to come out to give us information.

I found out that when people have information, they prefer to put it on social media, and they think that is where the solution lies. No! Some will say if they give information to the police, they will be sold out No! The mentality of our men, because of the leadership of the organization, now has changed and there are so many platforms you can give information to the police without being known. If you call into our control room, no one will ask you who is speaking. The farthest question they can ask is to know where you are calling from so they can know where it is happening. We also have Police smart application on google right now. You can pass any information from there. If you are in distress, you can send distress call from there. Basically, I want everyone to give information to the police and they should rather report incidents to police rather than social media because if it’s not reported to the police, it won’t be recorded, and if there is no record that such incident happened, how do we combat it? It’s a cycle and we still want members of the public to talk to the police directly so that we can achieve.

As a follow-up to what you said, recently something happened and I was telling the person that he should go and report to the area command and he was like, if he should go, even as a complainant, at the end of the day he would be asked to bail himself. And bail isn’t free in Nigeria and this thing is happening every day. What’s your take on this?

My take on this is that in the Police Force, under the leadership of the IGP, and Lagos State Command under the Commissioner of Police, Al-Fatai Owoseni, bail is free. If you ever go to any division, even as a complainant, if anyone asks anything from you, text the IGP; that is why he distributed his phone number. People should get up. We created a unit, Corporate Response Unit, CRU. We have distributed flyers to educate people on how to channel any complaints they have. The only thing we are telling members of the public is that they should get beyond sitting down, talking and complaining. Why can’t we move into action by reporting? It is only when people have acted and there is no corresponding action, then people should complain to the authority and see if there won’t be action.   As at now, the leadership isn’t aware that bail isn’t free in some places because nobody has ever complained. And at the same time, we want to implore members of the public that they shouldn’t give money.

There is a popular belief that Nigerians lack maintenance culture and recently, government gave some equipment to the Police Force. To what extent has the equipment helped? And what are the maintenance measures?

The equipment has gone a long way in combating crime, in fighting criminalities. During the festive period last year, you saw that there was no serious incident. And about the maintenance measures,  a lot has been put in place. Starting from the fueling, the command is filling it; the NPF has a workshop where the cars are been serviced and the Command CP has orientated those handling it on how to be conscious and cautious while using it.

The issue of extra-judicial killings by some of your men has raised a lot of concern. What is the Command doing to curb this?

For every misbehaviour, there is a specific punishment. What the Command is doing about that is that if you commit such an offence, you are dealt with according to the law of the Police Force, and according to the laws of the country. If you have taken a life, you will face it. The police isn’t going to hide you because you have been trained; and if you decide to go against the law, you will face it. If you as a member of the police misbehave, you are on your own. We are re-orientating them that they are to protect life and property, not to snuff out lives.

Interestingly, you are cool and calm, and a lot of people wonder what led you to joining the Police Force…

Well, the Police Force isn’t for the crooks, the rugged. The police need people that are calm, cool but at the same time, firm. Personally, I have ever wanted to be a medical doctor because I want to save lives and rescue people, but as the saying goes: Man proposes, God disposes. I think being in the Police Force is even far more of a duty than a doctor. I’m still in line with what I dreamt of. I’ll say it’s by the grace of God.

Can you tell us about an unforgettable experience since you joined the Police Force?

There are so many but as a police officer, you are not meant to be emotionally down. You are bound to see a lot but your ability to stand firm is what makes you a trained officer. But I would like to say there was one that actually brought tears to my eyes; that was when I was a DPO in Isokoko. That will be an unforgettable experience for me. It made me shed tears.

It was the story of a three-year-old girl living with her aunt. The aunt had been married for 10 years but had no child, and there is a belief that if a child comes live with you, his or her head will bring another one up.

This girl went through lot of beating, and the saddest one was when the woman said the three-year-old girl passed excreta on the bed around 1 a.m. and the aunt said: ‘Don’t you know you are no more a baby?’ The woman started beating her till daybreak. The most painful thing was that in the morning when she continued the beating, she hit her head on the wall and the girl passed out, just for her to wake up in the hospital; she couldn’t talk, she couldn’t use her limbs, she couldn’t walk again and after some time, they couldn’t get money to pay hospital bill and they had to take the girl back home. She couldn’t talk again, so the landlord had to come and report the case. We rescued the child and at the sight of her, I wept like a baby because that is the highest level of inhumanity. We called the Lagos State Government and the girl was taken care of. I made sure the woman faced the wrath of the law. I charged her to court against all odds. And even when the family members and the mother of the girl came all the way from their village to beg, we resisted. The woman is still under prison custody up till now and the girl has been taken over by the LASG.

That was touching! Can you tell us how growing up was like for you, because a lot of people want to know?

Growing up was beautiful. I’m the second of six children. My mom was a disciplinarian and my father was a gentleman. I think I carved a niche for news from him. He is a man of news. You don’t watch any other thing when it’s time for news. He doesn’t joke with his newspapers and magazines. He opened my eyes to news. I grew up like every normal girl. My mom was a teacher so I grew up with a disciplinary mother and a subtle father. It was a beautiful experience.

Many people say the Nigeria Police Force is corrupt. What is your take on this?

It’s a perception. Not everyone will say the NPF is corrupt. Some will still say well about them. Whatever perception we have, why can’t we team up with the NPF so that we can do that which is expected of us. I want us to go beyond lamentation, to the level of action. For every 12 disciples, there is a Judas.

If you go to government hospitals,  some people will tell you they are corrupt. So it’s your experience that will make you talk. The question is, are we doing anything to curb every form of menace? If the leadership is doing something, we need to move from lamenting and be hopeful. The question we should be asking is, what are the people at the helm of affairs doing even if there is corruption? Are they fighting it? We should dwell more on what they are doing than what they have done wrong in the past.

What do you intend to do to combat the issue of rape?

There is no increase of rape from all indications, but we cannot wish it away, that there is no rape. Let me tell you what the Lagos State Command is doing to curb the issue. In the Command, we have four divisions, apart from the Lagos state CID, Panti. We map out four divisions where we have our men specifically trained to attend to issues of gender and sexual-based violence like rape, domestic violence, stabbing of wife, beating of wife, beating of husband. We have Isokoko division in Agege, Ilupeju police division, Adeniji Agbele police station. These are places where if you go with issues like this, they don’t compromise, they know the steps. For you to be sure that you will get whatever is supposed to be done, we have referrals to those divisions, we have medical organisations that can partner with the police to prove the offence of rape. So we want people to be aware that there are specific divisions. You can report to any of them.

What should Lagosians expect from your Command in the next one year?

In the next one year, they will be more secure than they are today because we are stepping up our own game of protection of life and property. Members of the public should also partner with the police .

Partnering with us – giving us information, giving us prompt report – will also help us to build on what we are doing. In the next one year, Lagosians will look back in Lagos State and say crime has been reduced to the barest minimum.