What happened in Niger State may be far more disturbing than the death of 37 detainees.
If the allegations of extortion are established, we may be looking at something deeper than misconduct by a few officers. We may be looking at a culture in which the coercive powers of the state have allegedly been converted into a means of making money from citizens in detention.
That is the real issue.
Families have alleged that money was demanded before detainees could be released. Reuters reported the allegation of a ₦100,000 demand from one family. These claims must be tested against evidence, but they cannot simply be dismissed as the behaviour of a few bad officers.
I have also received information alleging that some State Commands make periodic financial “returns” upwards through the command structure.
If that allegation is true, then the corruption is not confined to the person collecting money at the point of detention. It raises the possibility of an organised system in which illicit proceeds move through established channels and those higher up either participate, benefit or knowingly tolerate the practice.
That is why this matter cannot end with the suspension of officers at the Niger State Command.
A command structure cannot be used to enforce discipline from the bottom while accountability stops at the top.
The law requires more than identifying the immediate actors. A proper investigation must establish the individual and institutional responsibility for the deaths, including whether there was knowledge, authorisation, concealment, neglect, financial benefit or failure of supervisory duty at higher levels.
And if money was systematically extracted from detainees, the financial trail should be followed. Bank transactions, communications, detention and release records, complaints, internal reports and the movement of alleged “returns” should all be subjected to independent scrutiny.
Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi is the Commandant-General of the NSCDC and therefore occupies the highest command position in the institution whose personnel and practices are under scrutiny.
I am not saying that makes him personally responsible for the deaths.
I am saying that the head of an institution cannot be treated as beyond scrutiny when allegations of systemic corruption reach into the command structure he heads.
For the credibility of the process, Audi should step aside, or be suspended, while an independent investigation examines not only what happened in that Niger State facility, but whether a wider culture of extortion has been allowed to flourish within the NSCDC and whether anyone in authority has been protecting, benefiting from or deliberately ignoring it.
Because if 37 people died at the bottom of a system that allegedly profits from detention, finding the officers at the bottom is not enough.
We must follow the money. We must follow the command. And we must follow the responsibility.
If the evidence leads to the top, the law must reach the top.
No uniform, rank or office should be high enough to shield corruption from accountability.
Solomon Dalung is a former Minister of Youth and Sports under President Mohammadu Buhari
