Those who attack agents of the state are not to be treated with kids’ gloves. Last week the story of residents of a Tamale suburb attacking and inflicting injuries on police officers who had gone to arrest a suspect, made disturbing headlines.
Two of the officers suffered severe injuries on the head and neck and currently receiving treatment in hospital.
The act was as reprehensible as it was regrettable. The community residents did what they did because of a deep-seated disrespect for the law enforcement officers. Otherwise they would not have been as foolishly daring as to attack assault rifle armed police officers. They did not stop there but disarmed one of the officers.
It is important that we take note of this disrespectful attitude towards the police and work towards reversing it as a nation. What happened recently in Nigeria offers us sufficient education about how not taking action against an anomaly of this magnitude can trigger telling outcomes.
Unleashing unnecessary umbrage against the police without any visible provocation should neither be encouraged nor tolerated in any way in the country.
With elections beckoning, such nonsense should be dealt with as swiftly as possible.
Attacking an armed cop which was exactly what unfolded in the Tamale suburb is an unwise thing to do. It can be imagined what could have happened had the police officers fired at the attacking residents in self-defence.
The public would have had no charitable words for the police officers had they gone on that trajectory.
Thank providence that did not happen. What would happen next time a community decides to foolishly attack armed police officers on a legal mission and even attempt disarming them could be different from what unfolded in the Tamale suburb.
While we congratulate the now convalescing police officers for tolerating the intolerable action of the residents, we demand that suspects picked up for engaging in the criminality be tackled in conformity with the law.
It is necessary that each time such anomalies take place law enforcement is able to undertake thorough investigation into the case with a view to isolating the offenders from the horde of suspects picked up, especially those who spearheaded the assault.
Having done this, the deterring element should stand out clearly so that others would learn that attacking agents of the state is not only unwise but criminal and therefore punishable by law.
We would be surprised if the suspects did not know that what they did constituted a criminality and therefore prosecutable in a court of law.