It was Kaduna state Police Commissioner,CP Ballah Magaji Nasarawa, who revealed the name of the police officer killed in an explosion at the Ungwan Sarki area of Kaduna last Tuesday.
According to the CP “today 14th February, 2012 at about 1045hrs, and 1140hrs respectively, there were two explosions that occurred at Ungwan Sarki bus stop, Kaduna.
“The first improvised explosive Device (IED) exploded in a gutter near a parked 15 seater ford bus. No one was affected while the second explosion occurred when a police Anti Bomb personnel, one Sergeant Sunday Badang, was about to detonate it and the improvised Explosive Device exploded and he was killed instantly.
“The fragment affected two other persons near the scene. They were rushed to 44 Army Reference Hospital Kaduna for treatment and the victims are in stable condition.
“The area was equally swept by the police Anti-Bomb Squad and no other explosives device was detected. Equally, we have beefed up security in the entire state and members of the public are hereby advised to report any suspicious object to security agencies and to avail us with credible information that will nip in the bud, these criminalities.”
Sergeant Badang will go down in history as one of the most patriotic citizens who laid down their lives to keep Nigeria together. He was killed in a bomb blast last Tuesday in Kaduna as the video above suggests.
But another critical look at the video raises some questions. Was that the best way to handle a suspicious object? The policeman walked up to the object, brought out what seemed like a scanner ,and worse still, he decided to bend down and apparently physically examined it.Even people without training in security matters have expressed their worry about the way the officer was allowed to walk up to the object as if his body was bomb explosion-proof.Then all of a sudden, the explosion occurred, killing him instantly to the horror of everyone.
This is not an attempt to blame the dead officer. He evidently gave his all in the line of duty. But there is clearly everything wrong with the way and manner the entire scanning of the suspicious object was handled. If no one was sure what was in the suspicious package especially after a bomb had earlier gone off near-by, rational thinking should have alerted the policeman to the potential danger.
It was shocking to see him only move towards the object with a just a short scanner like security men in banks trying to frisk customers. But that ought not to be. Is that the best instrument available for detecting and detonating explosives? Why was he allowed to move so dangerously close to the suspicious object regardless of the potential danger to the officer’s life?
Perhaps the police hierarchy need to sit back, watch the video and review the situation.The nation’s security men should not be allowed to die in such manner. Given the huge expenditure on security, the nation’s policemen, military men, state security personnel and other paramilitary personnel should be given proper training and equipment to handle the unfortunate security situation. This is a clarion call that needs to be urgently addressed. The way Badang died was just too painful and possibly avoidable with proper equipment available for an officer ostensibly well trained.
Securitymen and women serving the country patriotically should be properly equipped for every operation.That is the best way to avoid putting officers in harm’s way.Badang genuinely served the country and paid the supreme price evidently because the system did not equip him properly.No modern day policing should allow what happened to him repeat itself.
