In Shakespeare’s tragic play, Macbeth, Duncan, the King of Scotland, declares: “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” He makes this remark after he is told that the Thane of Cawdor has been executed for treason.

In the play, the Thane of Cawdor, a Scottish titled man, valiant for that matter, betrays his country, and the king’s trust by fighting for the Norwegians who are at war against Scotland. His compatriots capture him, and King Duncan orders his execution. It is after the order is carried out and reported to Duncan that he makes that statement.

In simple terms, the expression means one cannot read someone else’s mind by merely looking at their face. In other words, never judge a book by its cover.

The king realises that there is no way to predict betrayal. He does not see it coming as his next sentence shows: “He was a gentleman on whom I built absolute trust.”

Such is the dilemma we face as a nation. The nefarious activities of some men in uniform, have put Ghanaians on edge. These are people to whom we have entrusted our safety and security, but they have betrayed our trust and are in cahoots with criminals of all sorts to threaten us, putting both our property and very lives in danger.

Policemen and soldiers have in recent times, been arrested in very compromising situations unbecoming of their profession. They have joined the underworld. Like the Thane of Cawdor, they are sent to wage war against criminals, but they go and join them to do us harm.

It occurs all over the world with varying degrees. There have been reported cases of policemen in the UK abducting, raping, and murdering women. In the US, a policeman recently killed his own wife, a fellow police officer, following what is believed to be a domestic violence incident.

However, criminals in uniform abound more in Africa than in other parts of the world. And some of the reports are frighteningly shocking. For example, in the 1980s, in Nigeria, the name of a very prominent senior police officer, DSP George Iyamu, popped up as the main facilitator of the most deadly and dreaded criminal gang in the country, led by Lawrence Anini, a very young notorious armed robber in his late 20s.

Together with his gang, Anini terrorised most parts of Nigeria, especially, Benin City in the old Bendel State which has now been split into Edo State and Delta State.

The clan began as carjackers before including robbing buses on highways. In no time, bank robberies became their preferred option with the cruel massacre of victims.

They committed gruesome murders including killing a lot of policemen who stood in their way. Within just about four months, the group had killed close to a dozen policemen, including two who attempted to stop Anini at a barrier, not to mention civilians.

The fearsome robber held sway over all he surveyed and was a law unto himself. In fact, he called himself Anini the law and was so elusive and dreaded even though he was living right under the nose of the police.

It is said that even if he approached a police barrier, all he had to say was: “I am Anini the law.” And come and see speed! Instead of attempting to arrest him, they would just flee for cover, and allow him free passage.

Anini even had the audacity to draft a proposal and gave it to the military Head of State at the time, General Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida, about collaborating with his group of felons and treating them with respect to bring peace to the country, especially, Benin City.

The Newswatch magazine, in its October 27, 1986 publication, listed the six conditions Anini gave for peace to return to Benin city in an unedited form as follows:

“No more prosecution of innocent armed robbers; a stop to collusion between the police and the Nigerian Union of Road Transport Workers, and with members of the Ogboni cult; no more harassment of market women returning from their work; the ‘abolition of the collection of 50k-N5 [by the Highway Patrol], equal treatment for everybody; and fair treatment for all legitimate drivers by the police.”

Ironically, Anini, while still committing atrocities, posed as an advocate and deliverer of the suffering masses of Nigeria, including his fellow criminals whom he described as “innocent armed robbers.”

His reign of terror which peaked between August and December, 1986, was so bloody and widespread that he was even discussed at National Security Council meetings chaired by General Babangida himself who furiously posed the question to the IGP, Mr. EtimInyang: “My friend, where is Anini.”

General Babangida ordered a massive manhunt for Anini and his cohorts. A crack team of policemen, from outside Anini’s home region of Bendel State, operating under tight secrecy, hounded them, combing every nook and cranny of his state, especially Benin City, the capital, which the group was said to be using as its operational headquarters.

The effort finally paid off. Finally, on December 3, 1986, the team captured Anini in the company of six girlfriends in Benin City. Some other members of the group were also nabbed at different locations.

While in custody, Anini made some startling revelations, disclosing the identities of six police officers, including DSP George Iyamu, as their accomplices who tipped them off about plans to get them. Iyamu, the most senior among the officers, was also said to have provided guns and other logistics for the Anini bunch.

On March 29, 1987, Anini who was just over 26 years, was executed by firing squad, together with his bandits, after being convicted and sentenced to death for armed robbery by a High Court. DSP Iyamu and four other policemen also suffered the same fate.

Thirty-five years on, another top cop, Abba Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police, widely touted as a potential IGP, has fallen from grace to grass after being implicated in a cocaine deal with a notorious internet scammer and drug dealer.

In Ghana, when a spate of attacks on bullion vans hit recently, the police had good cause to look everywhere except within their own ranks. After all, the police are the trusted ones to go after the crooks!

But it turned out to be all wrong. Duncan’s words came into play: “There’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” About six servicemen who mourned the death of a colleague cruelly murdered in one of the bullion van attacks, turned out to be shedding crocodile tears.

They were the very criminals the police were looking for. Two of them died inexplicably in a shooting incident when the police went with them after their civilian accomplices. Four others are on remand while their trial goes on,.

In another development, the M.C.E. of New Juaben South, Mr Isaac Appaw Gyasi, on June 21, 2022, was reported to have revealed that some moles among the security personnel in his municipality, have been countering efforts to arrest sex traffickers and commercial sex kingpins by leaking information on operational strategies adopted for the arrest and prosecution of the criminals.

In recent times, sex trafficking and commercial sex business are getting out of hand in Koforidua, the Eastern Regional Capital, with reports alleging that the municipality has become the destination of choice for Nigerians and other foreign nationals engaged in the illicit activities.

With the connivance of Ghanaian accomplices, those foreigners lure young girls into believing that decent and well-paying jobs are available in Ghana only for them to be pushed into those practices.

The irony is that while the new police administration under C.O.P Dr. George Akuffo Dampare, is making strenuous attempts to reduce crime significantly, traitors within the service are thwarting these efforts by conniving with criminals.

New ways of policing, hitherto unheard of in Ghana, have now been introduced into the service. This includes the establishment of a K-9 (canine) Unit whose officers and trained security dogs are stationed at vantage points across Accra for operational patrols.

This new way of policing forms part of the Proactive Preventive Policing Strategy and it is aimed at increasing the visibility of personnel, improving intelligence gathering, tracking of contraband goods, and improving upon other aspects of criminal investigations. Plans are underway to extend the strategy to other regions in the near future.

Another innovation is the horse patrol in various areas as part of the visibility strategy to nip crime in the bud. Besides, Regional, Divisional, and District Police Commanders across the country, on Monday, June 20, 2022, embarked on an intensive community engagement nationwide with a view to bringing policing to the doorsteps of Ghanaians as well as gathering intelligence.

Very lofty ideas but with the moles as recalcitrant as ever, what is the future of policing in Ghana in particular, Africa as a whole, and the world in general?

The programmes demand trustworthy security personnel to succeed. But, again, “there’s no art to find the mind’s construction in the face.” For that reason, let there be foolproof background checks before new officers are enlisted into the Ghana Police Service.

For those criminals already in uniform, give them no rest. Hound them and flush them all out. They must be put out of service. Period!

Contact:teepeejubilee@yahoo.co.uk

By Tonny Prempeh