WILBERFORCE VS POLICE FORCE

W.A.E Meigbope is a magistrate. Magistrate of Lagos State. On Tuesday 19th May 2009, this magistrate became another proof of the saying “anything can happen in Nigeria”. Any thing.
On the fateful day, according to a newspaper report, the personal dignity of Meigbope and of the institution (Lagos State Magistracy) which he represents were brutally rubbished. Courtesy of a gang of police-men who took leave of their senses, in the discharge of what they perceived their duty.
According to the report, the police were determined to re-arrest some accused-persons whom the magistrate-had just released, when the police withdrew charges against them before the court.
Immediately out of the courtroom, the police pounced on discharges. Some of these people now ran back to the court room for the protection of the magistrate.
This move would not deter the policemen. According to a very reliable eye-witness, they forcefully lay hands on the men, as well as some lawyers whom the men had clung to in desperation, as it were for protection. The laying of hands was not done in the manner of the Apostles of old, I should quickly add. It was done in the manner of belligerent storm-troopers-involving free use of fist blows, slaps, kicks and gun butts.
Of course the encounter, fully brutish and un-british-could not be conducted in the quietude of gentility but in the cacophonous swell of-violence. The noise of the ensuing bedlam soon got into the ears of the magistrate, who rose from the bench to see things for himself. Mistake No 1. And, to intervene. Mistake No 2. Mistakes that nearly cost him his life as the power-demented-police-men gave him some-rather unjudicious blows to his face and body, dragged him on the ground, tore his shirt and threatened to blow his judicial brains out.
When Meigbope came out of his court room to see things for himself, he left with his-dignity, honour and the glory of his office intact. When he returned or rather when he was returned to his chambers, a few minutes later, it was sans dignity, honour and glory. He was in worse a situation than a man hit by a cyclone!
Meigbope took the steps he took, apparently in a fit of judicial patriotism and activism. But he forgot the saying that “When guns boom, the law is silent”. The encounter between Meigbope and his assaulters cannot but be otherwise-Nigeria still being a (half)-jungle where might is still right
What will be the end of this matter? I can swear on the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea that, nothing, absolutely nothing will happen. I doubt whether the upper echelon of authority of the Lagos State Judiciary will do anything much about the-incident, apart from scratching the ground like backyard hens. After all Meigbope is just a mere Magistrate, not even a chief Magistrate.
If he were a Judge now, one could reasonably expect some more positive and dedicated-reaction from his employers. In Lagos State judiciary, it would appear that judges are the only ones who really count in terms of solid welfare interests. They are the salt of the earth.
Before you accuse me of talking or writing squibish-nonsense (as usual) please consider the following facts.
In 2002, some police-men beat a judiciary staff to a coma right in the premises-of the Ikeja High Court. The staff’s name is Alhaji Olowoyo. Nothing happened to his assaulters, who claimed they came to the court to arrest touts in the premises. Some four years later, another detachment of police stormed the open registry of the same Ikeja High Court. They were looking for alleged crooked clerks suspected of “eating government money” in the registry.
However in the performance of their duties, they ended up roughing up all and sundry found in the registry at the material time, including legal practitioners and their clerks who were there to file papers. The union of workers quickly mobilized to protest the invasion. However before long the organizers of the protest, found themselves out of jobs.
So in the light of the above, I dare say nothing will happen to Meigbope’s assaulters. But mark my words-one of these days a judge will not only be beaten up, but stripped naked right in premises of the-court.
By the way, the first name of Meigbope is Wilber-force, while is assaulters belong to the Police-force Now when force meets force, the weaker one bends.
You get my drift?